Italy’s poultry sector highlights positives in difficult year

Italy’s poultry sector, like others, has suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its processing plants have remained free from infection.

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Despite difficulties, Italy’s poultry producers have been able to continue suppling the market without passing on costs to growers or consumers. iStock | Photo Beto
Despite difficulties, Italy’s poultry producers have been able to continue suppling the market without passing on costs to growers or consumers. iStock | Photo Beto

The Italian poultry industry ended 2019 strong and with promise for 2020. Production, consumption and exports rose. No one could have predicted the impact COVID-19 would have once it hit the country in late January.

The difficulties that emerged in Italy have subsequently appeared in numerous countries around the world, creating an all-too-familiar story.

What has differed in Italy, is that the country has managed to avoid outbreaks of COVID-19 in processing plants, allowing the industry to return to normal and avoid expensive shutdowns.

Antonio Forli, president of the Italian poultry producers association UnaItalia speaking at the organization’s annual general meeting, said: “To date, no COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in the production plants of UnaItalia’s members, unlike what has happened in the U.S. and the rest of Europe. What is happening abroad does not in any way reflect what is happening in Italy or in our companies.”

Italy’s poultry producers may draw some comfort from year-end predictions that suggest that total agrifood sales by value are expected to be only 10% lower this year than last.

The hotel, restaurant and catering channels may see the value of sales to year- end decline by 40%, but much of this will be offset by increased demand from retail, the industry believes.

First quarter built on positive 2019

Poultry meat sales in Italy showed increased 0.8% in 2019 to 1.3 million metric tons (mt). Sales of chicken meat, at 948,000 mt were up by 1.5%, while those of turkey, at 301,000 mt, were stable. Demand for meat from minor species, however, decreased last year.

Per capita poultry meat consumption increased slightly in 2019 at 20.45 kg, while the trend for higher-value production witnessed in previous years, continued into 2019. The country’s poultry meat exports were also higher.

The Italian poultry industry entered 2020 with positive expectations and, even as the pandemic struck, the agricultural sector was initially not hit as hard as others. Over the first quarter of this year, sales of poultry meat through supermarket chains rose 8.9%.

Demand for poultry meat over the first quarter was so strong that producers, at times, were unable to fully respond. This upswing in consumer purchases, however, did not last. By late April, Unaltalia reported that demand had become erratic and that by June this year, prices for poultry meat were 21% lower than 12 months earlier.

UnaItalia notes that despite disruptions, its members were able to adapt. Changes were not without costs, which companies didn’t pass on to consumers or growers.

In late February, the country started to experience additional checks and restrictions at its borders, hampering exports of poultry to its key export markets.

In May, UnaItalia Director Lara Sanfresco commented: “Nobody expected the devastation that was caused by COVID-19. Nevertheless, poultry companies have demonstrated resilience and an ability to adapt. There has been a great sense of responsibility on two fronts - guaranteeing worker safety and ensuring production.”

She said the industry had altered working patterns, guaranteed social distancing and converted some production channels to meet changing demand, particularly in response to the closure of foodservice.

This re-organization at plant level would appear to have paid dividends, at least, where keeping the novel coronavirus out of processing plants is concerned.

Need for co-operation

While Italy may be ahead of some countries in relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and not experiencing an upswing in COVID-19 cases of the scale being seen by some of its neighbors, the sector is not without ongoing concerns.

Forli has expressed his concerns that the industry may become vulnerable to foreign takeovers, particularly, he said, as producers in other countries enjoyed high levels of government support.

While Italian producers may have continued to operate successfully throughout the pandemic, their resilience is not without limit. With this in mind, Forli took the occasion of UnaItlia’s general assembly to call for the development of strategy encompassing agricultural producers and the supermarket chains to share value amongst the country’s various food supply participants and to help respond to changing consumer demand.

Italian-poultry-market-data-2019

Italy recorded a positive 2019 with broiler meat production and consumption higher. 

 

 

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