July 9, 2004

Consumption Of Chicken Resumes In Italy

Italians are rediscovering chicken despite cases of bird flu in the Far East. Production and consumption has taken off since May. If the situation in the first four months of 2004 was stationary, they are presently seeing a big increase in sales.

The figures from U.N.A (National Poultry Union) underline this. From January to April the average amount of chicken consumed has been 50,700 tons, or 33.8 million butchered birds.

In May this jumped to 56,100 (37.4 million chickens), up 11 pct. And the trend continues to grow. In June Italians ate more than 57,000 tons of chicken. This is 12 pct more than the average for the first four months of the year.

In the face of the rise in consumption, income has also registered a positive performance. In the first four months, around 230 million euro a month were taken. But in May, it was 290 million. In June, it was more than 300 million euro.

However, if consumption and turnover have increased greatly, the same cannot be said for prices. Compared to other types of food, white meat has shown itself to be more convenient, without excessively feeling the effect of the euro.