Johannesburg – South African retailers who are selling dumped chicken at prices marginally cheaper or at similar prices to that of locally produced birds will not only contribute to the destruction of the industry but are putting the health of their consumers at risk.
Local farmers have to comply with a long list of requirements to ensure the chicken that goes to market is safe and traceable.
But when retailers buy dumped chicken, they don’t know where it comes from and whether it has been refrozen after being repackaged.
This, according to Chris Schutte, chief executive of Astral, the largest chicken producer in the country, poses a potentially devastating health risk.
“We’ve just seen with the Brazilian meat scandal what can go wrong. And in a country where we have unemployment of 27% and rising, it makes no sense for retailers to support the European industry at the cost of their own customer base.”
Mike Schussler, chief economist at Economists.co.za, says retailers are worsening the problem by allowing price suppression.
“Preventing local suppliers from adjusting prices according to agricultural circumstances is not fair and causes irreparable harm.
“In the long-term, it’s of great economic importance that local business supports the local industry.”
Shoprite spokesperson Sarita van Wyk says the chain procures more than 98% of its chickens from local farmers. “The reality, however, is that the constant high demand for chicken outstrips supply in South Africa. We have to import very small quantities when needed.
“The amount of imported chicken we sell in our stores accounts for less than 2% of the total amount of chicken imported into South Africa. In compliance with labelling regulations, a label identifying the country of origin is affixed to the product.”
The procurement of locally produced products will always be a priority for Shoprite, she says.
Schutte, however, says it’s simply not true that the South African industry is unable to meet the demand.
“We not only can produce enough chicken to fulfil the per capita demand, we have substantial spare capacity. It surprises me that a local retailer would choose to buy foreign dumped chicken when here at home there is more than adequate supply.
“Why would RCL Foods scale down production if the demand outstripped the supply?”
