Are chicken importers still making a killing from selling frozen packs of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) at very high prices?
FairPlay raised this issue in June, when high prices were cited by the CEO of the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters, Imamaleng Mothebe, in an article in Business Day. She said that, because of the bird flu ban in chicken imports from Brazil, local MDM prices had surged from R13/kg to R31/kg.
MDM is used in the manufacture of processed meats such as polony and viennas. It is not made in any quantities locally, and nearly all of it is imported from Brazil. The Brazil bird flu ban lasted from May to early July.
However, official import statistics show that MDM continued to be imported from Brazil in May, June and July, in reduced quantities but at continued low prices.
In May 2025, as the ban came into effect, South Africa imported R170 million worth of MDM at an average price of R10.19/kg. In June this dropped to R76 million of MDM at R9.59/kg and in July to R26 million at R9.85/kg.
How much did chicken importers charge for these cheap supplies? Was it perhaps auctioned off to the highest bidders? Could MDM have continued to fetch R30/kg, or even R40/kg? This would hit the poor hardest, as polony and other processed meats are largely consumed by lower income groups.
In addition, in July South Africa imported R18 million worth of MDM from Thailand at R13.25/kg, a further R18 million from Argentina at R12.98/kg and R5 million from Spain at R20.18/kg.
Clearly, importers are finding alternative suppliers, despite their claims that no country other than Brazil can meet their needs.
Lower import volumes for a few months will lead to lower revenues for chicken importers. FairPlay hopes that they have not countered this by finding ways to profit from their temporary crisis, and particularly not in ways that would reduce the availability of essential protein to poor families and their children.
