Picture: THINKSTOCKI have been following the “chicken wars” in the media for what feels like years. The plot seemingly never changes: a self-proclaimed efficient local industry cannot compete with allegedly dumped cheap imports and so applies for tariff relief from the government. While the application is considered a “war” breaks out between the opposing parties, with all sorts of statistical claims flying around, though the truth is never obvious to the uninformed.
Then government approves a tariff increase, the details of which seem to satisfy nobody. Months later, we read of a new tariff-increase application and the entire merry-go-round starts again. This time the authorities have adopted a different stance, and all sides are sitting around the table discussing some type of poultry master plan for SA.
It sounds wonderful, but in truth these noble aims don’t seem very achievable, and it’s an odds-on bet that the warring parties will soon be donning war paint and beating the drums again.
Local poultry makes huge returns, but the industry operates under a cloud of volatility because of sharp movements in feed prices. The good years are truly great, but the bad ones are very poor. Importers work on lower margins but huge volumes off a lower fixed-cost base. I am still to meet a poor poultry importer.
So the battle over the chicken bone is never ending, with feathers always flying. There should, however, be some nonnegotiables: price and consumer affordability, job retention and product quality, whether local or imported. The bottom line is that all parties must sacrifice a little so that the industry can grow in the interest of all, especially our hard-pressed consumers, many of whom exist on a pittance.Send us an e-mail with your comments.
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