April 10, 2006

British poultry sales remain strong while grain prices slide

Sales of chicken and eggs at all the big four supermarket chains in Britain have remained unchanged despite the recent case of bird flu discovered in Scotland.

Asda, Sainsbury, Tesco and Morrisons have all reported no dramatic changes to poultry meat or egg sales after the H5N1 strain of bird flu was found in a dead swan.

Chairman of the NFU Poultry Board Charles Bourns hailed the news and praised the British public for recognising that this is a disease of birds and not of humans. He added that sustained support would be able to pull through this crisis. 

The NFU also thanked the retail industry for its strong support through its outlets' reassurances to customers that all poultry, properly cooked, is safe to eat.

Despite the optimistic outlook, wheat prices have fallen after the bird flu case was confirmed.

Even though most firms say it is too early to predict a fall in the consumption of poultry meat, many have already factored in a slow-down in production.

Grain director Jon Duffy at Frontier said feed wheat sales to the poultry sector had fallen in recent weeks and the trend is expected to continue.

He predicted that UK consumption will soon be heading down and that has already had an effect on chick placings as broiler producers braced themselves for the fall in demand.

Poultry sales have been artificially maintained through promotions offered in supermarkets at the expense of poultry producers, he said.