5 top trends affecting chicken, egg production

Major trends are affecting the global chicken meat and egg industries, forcing the broiler and egg sectors to adapt as these influences become more mainstream.

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The global poultry industry is continuing to undergo significant change. Demands from consumers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), concerns over antibiotic use, and pressure to act sustainably are all altering how chicken and egg producers operate.

In addition to detailing the predicted increase in demand for animal protein and the potential strain that this could put on resources, speakers at Poultry Trends, organized by WATT Global Media as part of this year’s VIV Europe, highlighted several key trends that are expected to have a growing influence on chicken meat and egg production.

1. Demanding consumers and NGOs                                                                                        

The impact of consumers and NGOs continues to grow, further challenging traditional production practices.

Magnus Swalander, general manager/director R&D with Aviagen Ltd., who presented on the chicken of the future, argues that consumer tastes are changing and, in addition to what companies produce, consumers want to know more about how their food is produced.

Yet alongside this requirement for information, the population as a whole has less connection to food production as more people drift to cities. There is a lack of any meaningful understanding of agricultural production, meaning that for all food producers, communication with the public is increasingly important if the public’s views are not to be formed by others.

In the U.K., for example, only 1.1 percent of the population has any connection to agriculture, so a lack of understanding of food production should not be surprising.

Where NGOs are concerned, their pressure is being felt across sectors, with social media acting as a particularly important vehicle.

Take, for example, the organization Wakker Dier in the Netherlands, and its influence on supermarket groups, such as Albert Heijn and Jumbo, to stock slower-growing chickens.

Similar trends have emerged in the layer industry, says Eric Helmink, director, Hotraco.

NGOs are putting pressure on the owners of large brands at every level and on a global scale. So, for example, a household name such as McDonald's comes under pressure not only in developed markets, but also in fast-developing countries such as China and Russia.

Those issues of concern to NGOs -- welfare, for example -- can no longer be considered “rest-of-the-world” discussion; they are now global issues, changing what producers produce.

Within the EU, Helmink notes, where more than half of egg production is in enriched cages, NGOs continue to pressure egg producers to abandon cages completely. Consequently, there is now an expectation that, within the next decade, all EU egg production will be cage free.

2. Sustainability and welfare

Sustainable production and welfare continue to increase in importance.

Good feed conversion is key to sustainability, Swalander said, and improvements will continue to occur in this area. But a good broiler will also be robust and demonstrate good skeletal and metabolic support and livability, and these traits have grown in importance in recent years in response to demand.

For breeding companies, there is now a significant focus on “sustainable breeding,” meaning there is a balance between production inputs and outputs.

Inputs include, for example, feed, water, litter and antibiotics. Where outputs are concerned, meat is not the sole factor taken into consideration; good health and welfare are also considered -- a responsible approach to sustainable production.

Welfare issues vary from country to country, but can no longer be seen as simply a developed world concern and, of course, there is often a divergence in consumer and producer views as to what good welfare and sustainable production actually are.

3. Antibiotics, health challenge

Maintaining good flock health as antibiotic use is reduced is a growing challenge and crucial to production.

Significant changes in U.S. production, for example, have occurred over short period, and now 40 percent of U.S. chicken production can be classed as antibiotic free while, within the U.K., use of antibiotics has declined by 40 percent between 2012 and 2016.

Various sectors along the production chain are responding to this challenge in different ways. Where breeding companies are concerned, the response has been to increase focus on good livability, robustness and gut health.

But it is not only the move away from antibiotics that is concerning producers where flock health is concerned.

Helmink notes that, in Europe, 83 percent of laying flocks are thought to be infested with red mite. This is costly. With chickens potentially having 2,000 visits by mites in one night alone, production decreases and costs rise, potentially reaching EUR0.60 (US$0.70) per chicken per year.

Treatment restrictions introduced a decade ago, along with more complex housing systems, mean that producers are now looking for alternatives to control the pest. Infestation rates vary by country, but in the Netherlands, with its high number of birds, it has reached 94 percent.

4. Return to the past                                                               

Retailers are responding to consumer perceptions of the welfare and quality benefits of slower-growing birds.

Swalander notes that, while interest may be particularly strong in the Netherlands, it is growing worldwide. Breeding companies have been responding to this demand for more than a decade and various options are available to producers.

In addition to responding to consumer pressures to abandon cages, Helmink said, the egg industry is facing growing demand for eggs to be produced locally, affecting the sector in a variety of ways, particularly in the Netherlands and Germany.

This is resulting in a move away from large 200,000-layer complexes, for example, with the same production achieved via a proliferation of smaller houses, run by people that may have an additional job. It is a change that is reminiscent to the industry in the 1950s, Helmink said.

5. Importance of branding

The egg market, in particular, is seeing the emergence of more brands.

This, however, is not in all cases positive. While good branding can be expected to increase in importance to differentiate from what may be viewed as unfair competition, there is also the risk that an excess of brands may simply result in consumer confusion.

Good communication with the consumer is crucial for the layer and broiler sectors, whether this be through branding, or reconnecting people to agriculture.

Looking ahead

Swalander notes that, for any breeding company, anticipating market change is everything. To achieve this, a lot of time is spent connecting with direct and indirect customers, retailers, regulators, researchers and lobby groups, as all will have an influence on the chicken of the future.

But Helmink sounds a note of caution. In the case of the EU, while margins may have increased for those farmers following the changeover to cage-free production, he believes that while the bloc responds to the demands of NGOs, yet fails to apply standards to producers operating outside the bloc, the result could be the emergence of farms operating to lower standards on the EU’s border and selling cheap eggs into the European market.

 

Sustainable poultry production driving industry advances

www.WATTAgNet.com/articles/31349

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