May 21, 2013

Buoyed by the recent chicken-eating feast in the city, poultry farmers in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have seen an upturn in poultry's wholesale prices.

The local poultry authority organised the feast, - which was held on May 7and included 100 chickens and ducks as well as 240 eggs - in an attempt to allay fears surrounding the recent outbreak of bird flu. The outbreak badly hurt Liuzhou's poultry industry, and the feast organisers were hoping to demonstrate that it is safe to eat poultry-related food as long as it is properly cooked.

As many as 150 people, including government officials, experts in the poultry industry, and local residents, participated in the feast.

Chen Haixu, an owner of a poultry wholesale shop at Liuyong farmers market, said the event had given a boost to poultry sales in Liuzhou.

"The price of poultry has increased RMB1 (US$0.16) per half a kilogramme over the past several days," Chen said.

He added that the wholesale price of chicken had in the past peaked at RMB9 (US$1.50), but the outbreak in April led the wholesale price of chicken to plummet to RMB4 (US$0.65) per half a kilogramme. Chen said that the price of chicken has increased to RMB7.8 (US$1.27) half a kilogramme following the feast, but that some people still have safety concerns about eating poultry and the demand from restaurants remains lower than usual.

The sales of chicken at Liuyong farmers market reportedly fell sharply to 40-50 tonnes of chicken per day in April, but have now increased to 100 tonnes of chicken per day.

Sources connected to Liuzhou's poultry industry said they have witnessed the recovery of the market and, though the price is still lower compared with the price before the bird flu outbreak, they predict the market will continue to warm up in the future.