WATTPoultry reports that Rainbow is expanding its poultry export drive into the Middle East and African markets.
This expansion is a welcome sign of movement on a core pillar of South Africa’s Poultry Sector Master Plan: opening foreign markets to local chicken producers.
For years, the domestic industry has been forced into defensive mode, fighting to survive the devastating influx of dumped, predatory imports that crippled local producers and cost jobs and growth.
Seeing Rainbow step up its export drive, alongside long-standing efforts by producers like Sovereign Foods, shows what local agriculture can achieve when given room to grow.
Accessing regional markets via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and securing accreditation for European and UK standards are essential steps. However, an industry export drive cannot succeed in a vacuum. FairPlay has repeatedly pointed out that while local producers continue to invest in international compliance, food safety, and processing capacity, progress on export volumes remains far too slow without urgent, aggressive backing from government and export associations.
State support must match industry investment by fast-tracking trade agreements, resolving costly veterinary and health barriers, and clearing infrastructure bottlenecks at local ports.
Exporting South African chicken is not just good business for individual companies, it is a vital strategy to defend local jobs, bolster food security, earn foreign exchange, and secure the long-term future of our agricultural supply chain.
