Is South Africa really importing 'chicken waste'? (Opinion piece)
An importer provides clarity on the misconception around chicken “waste” and “leftovers” entering the country, while also challenging the SA Poultry Association to provide exact numbers of job losses owing to imported chicken. This is in response to an opinion piece by CEO Kevin Lovell entitled "The war of the chickens" that was originally published in City Press and republished by Fin24.
[See original article HERE]
The vast majority of South Africa’s informed and intelligent consumers would have recognised this opinion piece, by the poultry industry’s pied (or is that paid) piper, as yet another emotional, slightly hysterical, but always entertaining spin doctoring exercise in vague statistics, untested assumptions and questionable conclusions.
As a member of the South African food industry, therefore pro-consumer as opposed to merely pro-industry or, more narcissistically, pro-industry sector, it may be informative to provide a bit of background, while testing and clarifying a few of the statements made.
As Lovell points out, the various regulatory boards, including the meat board, disbanded in the early 90’s. In the process South Africans not only exited decades of political and economic oppression, but it also triggered the demise of many entities in various sectors which were artificially sustained via heavy subsidies and excessive protectionism during the dark days of Apartheid and isolation.
Sectors of agriculture, including the poultry industry, unfortunately struggled from the outset to compete in a global free market sans government subsidies and government assisted price, as well as supply and demand fixing. The latter, for clarification, involved government regulation of shortfall (importation) and oversupply (absorption) to effectively ensure profitability, irrespective of effectiveness and obviously with no regard for the consumer.
Sadly, two decades on and unlike most other sectors of the local animal protein industry, the poultry industry has refused to collectively revisit its business model, investigate carcass and portion subsidising (as is the case in other local animal protein sectors) or make a concerted effort to conform to the international health and sanitary requirements (as imports do) to open and access new export markets.
Instead it has only relied on continuously demanding and sadly being afforded protectionism via excessive import taxes, as well as heavily investing in brining, which inflates the over-the-counter portion weight to consumers while decreasing the protein per kilo weight.
As has been the case before, Lovell once again makes reference to the terms “leg quarters”, “waste”, “leftovers” and “dark meat”. For the sake of clarification, a leg quarter consists of a drumstick and a thigh, which is to be found in the “braaipacks” of all the major South African poultry producers, on the shelves of all the major supermarkets and on the braais of most South African households every weekend, whether local or imported.
Surely he is not terming what his constituents are producing and selling as “waste” and “leftovers”? He is correct in referring to it as dark meat though, as the muscles in the drumsticks and thighs contain more natural moisture and connective tissue, resulting in more flavour and juiciness.
Lovell’s reference to “at least 12 businesses” and “easily as many as 12 000 direct and indirect job losses” is also frankly very vague to me. Can he provide an exact number that excludes companies that were purchased by like companies or rescaled and absorbed into existing like companies?
Can he also confirm the exact number of direct job losses, as indirect job losses are immeasurable, indefinite and mostly used as an inflationary tool to support an argument?
At the same time it would also be best to confirm how many employees were redeployed in the mentioned restructurings and amalgamations, which have only served to further expand the existing huge poultry conglomerates.
Lastly I am glad that Lovell made reference to the fact that the poultry industry is the second biggest consumer of maize in South Africa. He should maybe have added that said maize is mostly purchased from subsidiaries that are in the same multi-national groups as the poultry companies though.
*Stephan Brink is import manager of Brito’s Group of Companies and general manager of Brito’s Food International.
Read related news articles
South Africa walks a tightrope on US relations
South Africa has been conducting a high-wire act in its relations with the United States (US). It is maintaining friendships with Washington’s enemies like Russia, Iran and China while trying to avoid disrupting its economic relations with America. Tensions came closer than ever to breaking point this month as the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations...
28 March 2024
Remarks by Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo on the US-South Africa economic relationship
As Prepared for Delivery in Johannesburg, South Africa Thank you for the warm welcome. I want to express my gratitude to Consul General Spera and the American Chamber of Commerce for hosting me. I am honored to be joined today by South African Entrepreneurs that are building companies to unlock the economic potential of their country. I owe my own presence here today to the inspiration I drew from South Africa. In the middle of the...
13 March 2024
South African president Ramaphosa meets with US congressional delegation
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 21 February 2024, received for a visit from a bipartisan congressional delegation from the United States of America, in Tuynhuys, Cape Town. The delegation is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Aspen Institute. The President and the US congressional delegation discussed the importance of the relationship between South Africa and the US, which manifests in strong economic,...
21 February 2024
US congress receives Bill to review South Africa relations
A bill has been submitted to the United States congress calling for a full review of the country’s bilateral relationship with South Africa following the International Court of Justice ruling that found it plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide against Gaza. The bipartisan bill which was introduced by US Republican congressman John James and Democratic Party congressman Jared Moskowitz this week could threaten South...
09 February 2024
Fitch research unit expects better AGOA deal for South Africa
Fitch’s research arm, BMI, believes SA has done enough to get improved trade terms under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), which it expects to be extended and modified before its expiry in September 2025. But it warns that the deal might be stillborn if Donald Trump is elected US president. The research think-tank said in a note it assigns a 65% probability that Agoa will not only be renewed but modified to the benefit of...
09 January 2024
South Africa: BLSA CEO calls for more companies to leverage AGOA opportunities
Many more South African companies could benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible countries access to US markets free of tariff barriers, business organisation BusinessLeadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. Apart from mainstream formal sector businesses, there are opportunities to enable more entrepreneurs, including women-led...
20 November 2023
US ambassador: AGOA is an opportunity to deepen ties between the US and South Africa
President Joe Biden last December at the US-Africa Leaders Summit affirmed that the US will elevate its relationship with Africa. The future is Africa. One example is its youthful population: the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people in the world will be in Africa. The US wants them to be healthy and wealthy. What happens in Africa will affect the rest of the globe — and we want to work together to ensure it is...
09 November 2023
US Senator Chris Coons proposes AGOA extension by 16 years, immediate review of SA’s AGOA eligibility
Powerful US Democratic Party Senator Chris Coons is circulating a discussion draft of a Bill to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for 16 years that would also require an immediate “out-of-cycle” review of South Africa’s eligibility for Agoa. That could lead to South Africa being removed next year from the programme, which has provided considerable benefits to SA exporters to the US of cars, fruits and wine, in...
07 November 2023
AGOA benefits extend beyond trade [incl. VIDEO of Friday's opening session]
Economies in Sub-Saharan countries stand to benefit far more from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) than notable trade statistics, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “AGOA enhances the diversification of African economies, enabling them to export value-added products. By enabling African countries to have preferential access to the US market, this opportunity incentivises African countries to develop and export value-added goods...
06 November 2023
South Africa pins its hopes on an early 2024 US Congress renewal of AGOA
South Africa’s government is hoping that the process to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) by the US Congress will be concluded by early 2024, ensuring that more than 20 African countries continue to have duty-free access to the world’s largest economy. This is the first time that the South African government has given a timeline for when it hopes the US Congress might extend Agoa, which has been renewed twice...
05 November 2023
SA trade minister Patel expresses confidence at media briefing about South Africa’s continued inclusion in AGOA
Ahead of South Africa hosting the US-AfricaTrade and Economic Cooperation Forum – also called the AGOA Forum – from November 2 to 4, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on October 26 briefed the media on the state of readiness for the forum, expressing confidence that the South African government’s relations with the US were strong. Various South African stakeholders have been motivating for...
26 October 2023