‘Awareness of immunity driving chicken prices up’

Suguna, Venky’s say prices are back at pre-COVID-19 levels

Chicken prices at the farm gate across India have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels of ₹85-90 a kg, as consumption of poultry has risen again as an immunity booster to counter the virus , according to major poultry firms.

Following rumours in February linking poultry with COVID-19, chicken prices had crashed to ₹5-10 a kg, forcing poultry farmers to release the birds into the open as they could not afford their maintenance.

“March and April were the [worst],” said S. Vignesh, ED, Suguna Foods, a large poultry player in the south with a market share of over 16%. “Production was severely impacted as maize producers could not supply feed due to the lockdown and demand was [affected] following rumours,” he added. “So, prices had crashed to ₹5-10 a kg from ₹85-90 in December,” he said. “Farm gate prices have bounced back to pre-COVID-19 levels and demand has returned to 70% of the pre-pandemic time. “Chicken is now consumed at least twice a week because people have started taking it as source of protein and an immunity builder.”

He said the poultry industry which bore maximum brunt in the past few months will achieve demand recovery of 85% [of the original quantity] in two months. Because of the uncertainty [in consumption] witnessed during the crisis period and due to consumer preference of online delivery, many players have started focusing on processed chicken which has more shelf life than live birds which are sold in the wet markets, generally preferred by Indians.

Confirming the trend, Prasanna Pedgaonkar, deputy GM, Venky’s, a leading player from western India, said, “Now, there is a good demand pull from consumers and prices have returned to ₹85-90 a kg. Production and consumption have moved up from very low levels due to awareness on immunity. Demand for eggs and chicken has increased due to this. Once the market and hotels open up, we forecast demand to surpass even pre-COVID-19 levels,” Mr. Pedgaonkar said.