South Africa’s Competition Commission is set to conduct a far-reaching market inquiry into the poultry sector. This comes barely three weeks after the government announced 25 to 30% rebates on chicken meat imports to manage inflation.

Though general inflation slowed down by 5.5% in quarter 3, 2023, South Africa’s  chicken inflation rose to 7.3% in November. 

This is why the commission wants to redeem the poultry value chain, to benefit impacted consumers and smallholder producers.

This news comes amid recovery in various facets of the hitherto struggling poultry sector. Some of the hardest hit players are major companies, such as Astral Foods, which is now recovering. For one, Astral Foods stated on January 31 of expectations to recoup profitability in Quarter 1, 2024-25 financial year, ending September 30. 

In 2023, Astral had its first loss since 2000 due to soaring water bills, avian flu costs and national load shedding expenses. The company is investing in water, generators and low feed costs to avoid spending another 2.1 billion rand ($110.6 million).

The Competition Commission could use some of the strategies Astral has employed to bounce back to profitability. Some of the marketing tricks include normalizing prices by cutting down on unnecessary promotions so as to break even.

Chicken Meat Rebates & Domestic Prices

It is also probable that the commission could evaluate the rebate of up to  30% on cut chicken meat imports. The government of South Africa and the International Trade Administration (ITA) reached the agreement on January 26, 2024. 

The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), a strong voice in the poultry industry, applauded the import cost reprieve.

Because the import discount will pass onto consumers, the rebate matches the Competition Commission’s mandate to make chicken affordable.

Indeed, chicken meat had already become a luxury in South Africa by May 2023. Between 2021 and May 2023, whole chicken prices rose by 17% after avian culling and rising poultry feed. 

Supermarkets in South Africa were on February 12, 2024 selling fresh whole chicken from R59.99 ($3.15) to R122 ($6.40) per kg.  

These prices are carryovers from mid-2023, when fresh whole chicken prices spiked by 14.22% over those of mid-2022.

According to the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), retail whole chicken meat breached R55 ($2.90) per kg in quarter 2, 2023. The same applies to today’s retail prices of chicken meat in South Africa.

The poultry industry represents 65% of meat consumption in South Africa, which underscores the Competition Commission’s interest in its value chain.