South Africa’s poultry industry is hoping for a breakthrough in exports this year, with EU inspections in May potentially opening doors for cooked chicken exports.
This year could be a breakthrough year for chicken exports, according to Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA).
In an interview with the TV programme Grootplaas, Breitenbach said the industry was working hard to increase exports of cooked chicken meat.
Inspectors from the European Union were scheduled to visit South African export facilities in May. If they gave their approval, exports to the EU would make a “strategic difference” to the poultry industry, he said.
It was much easier to get EU approvals for cooked chicken than for exports of frozen raw chicken Breitenbach explained.
He listed exports as one of three poultry industry priorities for 2025. The other two were approval of bird flu vaccinations and improvements in infrastructure such as electricity, roads and water supplies.
South African chicken exports rose last year for the first time since 2019, when the poultry master plan was signed. That plan foresaw an exports bonanza that never materialised. A revised master plan is being negotiated.
Chicken exports in 2019 were just above 50 000 tonnes, but by 2023 they had dropped to 46 789 tonnes. The 2024 total was 56 535 tonnes, according to official statistics.
