New trends for China's poultry industry in 2021

In the past few years, the industrial transformation and the stricter governmental supervision of environmental protection have forced a considerable number of small and medium-sized poultry breeding and processing companies to terminate their businesses. Other large and medium-sized enterprises occupied the vacant market space and were able to expand rapidly. According to Yang Ning, President of the World Poultry Society and professor of China Agricultural University, today's growth of the poultry industry is not so much due to substantial quantity increase, but rather to market replacement.

Ranking first in the world

As far as the domestic poultry market consumption in China is concerned, domestic consumers' demand for poultry products will keep increasing. The OECD-FAO report states that, in the next 10 years, China's poultry production will surpass that of the United States, ranking first in the world.
The market acceptance of small broilers increases year by year, while their consumption channels are gradually diversifying. According to Li Dingding, publisher and organizer of the International Poultry Forum, the consumption of white broilers will increase from today's 5 billion per year to 10 billion in the next 10 years. Due to changing consumer trends, the consumption of Chinese native birds will decline. 

At the same time, China's poultry industry also shows an increase in investments. Especially the construction of large-scale farms and poultry processing enterprises is worth mentioning. The production capacity of the poultry industry will continue to run at a high level and eventually, the total production will exceed market demand. 

New retail opportunities

Because of the changes caused by Covid-19, more Chinese consumers are buying food through e-commerce and other new retailing channels. The demand for cut-up and further processed poultry products as well as smaller packages will continue to grow. Now that the income level of urban and rural residents is rising, these consumers tend to upgrade their buying behavior more and more. At present, the per capita consumption of chicken, duck and eggs in China has exceeded the average level of the world. With changing consumer demand, food producers need to improve continuously the quality of their products in order to grab all opportunities and achieve sustainable development.

The era of quality

Qiu Jiahui, President of Hefeng Food said, "if poultry enterprises want to achieve a sustainable and healthy development, they must focus on the three key points cost, performance and quality. The era of making money as long as there is scope is over. We have transferred from the era of quantity to the era of quality development. Therefore, enterprises need to be managed based on cost and performance, with the aim to achieve the best quality."

Part of this article is taken from guest speeches of the 10th International Poultry Forum.