March 1, 2004

Japan's Nichirei Corp. To Increase Safe Chicken Imports

One of Japan's leading food-processing company Nichirei Corp. will increase its imports of safe chicken by purchasing products free of antibiotics and agrochemicals from France and Argentina, sources close to the company said.

Nichirei is hoping that the move will help restore consumer confidence in chicken following the outbreak of bird flu in Japan and most of Asia and the issue of residual antibiotics found in poultry meat.

The Tokyo-based company will in March begin importing chicken from French livestock firm Gastronome, which raises poultry without using antibiotics or anti-bacterial agents pursuant to standards set by the French government. Nichirei will also import from the company chicken that is raised with feed free of grain grown with agrochemicals.

Nichirei plans to import 130 metric tons of chicken a month from the firm, targeting sales to hotels, restaurants and producers of high-grade food ingredients.

Though the prices of the imports are expected to be more than twice that of domestically produced chicken, the company thinks consumer demand for safer chicken is strong.

Since last autumn, the company has been buying 50 tons of chicken monthly from Fepasa, an Argentine agricultural concern. Nichirei will increase that to 300 tons by next year as the Argentine company plans to start using lactic acid, rather than antibiotics, to prevent poultry disease.

Argentina is located far from Asia, where bird flu is spreading, and poultry raised there is relatively safe from contagious diseases partly because of the country's dry climate.