September 3, 2020

India poultry demand to reach 70% of pre-Covid level in Q3: Industry

India's chicken and egg consumption has started rising significantly, and is likely to reach 70% of pre-Covid levels in the current quarter, companies and trade bodies said, The Economic Times reported.

Demand had crashed when the epidemic began, forcing some poultry farmers to stop operations, but consumer demand started rebounding in July and will gather pace after the Navratras Hindu festivals and with the approach of winter, they added.

"We expect consumption to be back to about 70% in October to December and almost 90% by January to March 21," said BS Yadav, MD of Godrej Agrovet, a compound feed company whose poultry segment Godrej Tyson Foods sells 600,000 fresh and frozen chicken every week.

Suguna Poultry Farms' managing director GB Sundararajan says, "…after Covid, consumers' perception on eating chicken has changed and they see it as an immunity booster. Consumption has reached 57-60% of the pre-Covid time and we are confident that it will reach over 70% in the next quarter." According to Sundararajan, wholesale chicken prices have risen by 80-87% to Rs 150-180 (~US$2.04-2.45; Rs 1 = US$0.014) per kg in the past five months.

Egg demand has also increased and it was reflected in prices as well, said Harish Juneja, former chairman for Delhi zone National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), the central agency for all farmers in the broiler and layer industries. "The industry is coming back and poultry farms which were shut down in April to May are again starting operations. A crate of 30 eggs is currently being sold at Rs 140 which is a 75% increase from its bottom prices in March-April. We can expect another 30% increase in the next quarter," he says.