October 24, 2005

 

Spain's chicken sales down 10 percent on bird flu fears

 

 

Chicken sales in Spain have fallen 10 percent below normal levels in the last couple of weeks as fear of bird flu sets in, the country's main poultry farm association Friday.

 

Carmen Santamaria, spokeswoman for Propollo, which represents over 100,000 poultry farm companies, said the sales drop started after the first cases of bird flu were confirmed in Turkey and Romania.

 

"The industry is worried," said Santamaria, who said Spain's chicken production is second only to that of the UK in Europe. Chicken sales in Spain are typically around EUR250 million a month.

 

Santamaria accused local media of exacerbating bird flu fears. "They call it chicken flu," she protested.

 

Santamaria said the industry is confident it is well protected from any possible outbreak due to strict sanitary regulations, which include mandatory indoor raising.

 

No new chicken-raising measures have been taken or requested by the government, she said. Last week, Spain's agriculture ministry said it had ordered five million more doses of bird flu vaccine for poultry, doubling its stock.

 

At least 75,000 people are employed by Spain's poultry industry, Propollo estimates. The country's biggest producers are Sada Nutreco, unit of Nutreco Holding of The Netherlands, Spain's Coren SA and France's Doux.

 

In fact, Dutch fish feed and animal nutrition company Nutreco also said Friday its poultry sales in Spain have fallen between 7 percent and 10 percent in past weeks on customers fears of bird flu.

 

"We can confirm sales are falling in that range due to declining consumption on fears of the avian flu," said company spokesman Frank van Ooijen.

 

Nutreco's annual sales of its poultry operations in Spain is between EUR550 million and EUR600 million, including a small portion of pork meat.

 

Nutreco's statement is in line with Spain's main poultry farm association, which Friday said sales in Spain have fallen 10 percent below normal levels in the last couple of weeks.

 

Carmen Santamaria, spokeswoman for Propollo, which represents over 100,000 poultry farm companies, said the sales drop started after the first cases of bird flu were confirmed in Turkey and Romania.

 

Apart from Spain, Nutreco has divested all of its poultry operations and is focussing on the growth of its animal nutrition and fish feed business in order to reduce earnings volatility of its food businesses.