ALERT: Mega chicken crisis strikes South Africa due to loadshedding
The SA chicken industry is under attack...
UPDATE as of 26 January 2022
In recent news, the production of chicken now exceeds the selling price by R2 a kilogram.
News 24 reports: 'SA’s largest poultry producer Astral Foods warned on Wednesday that its half-year profit could plunge by up to 90% as it wasn't able to hike chicken prices to cover soaring feed and load shedding costs.'
Here's more on why this is the case:
An epic cluck up has occurred in Mzansi after 10-million chickens were “disposed of” due to loadshedding.
The chicken industry, which is known to be thriving in South Africa, has taken a huge blow after poultry farmers took on massive loses.
It has been reported that these chicken farmers find it “impossible to operate profitably”.
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As loadshedding continues, suppliers are facing massive setbacks as they lose fresh stock by the millions.
Fast food joints such as KFC and Nando’s have also been privy to these shortages.
According to these outlets, they have been receiving reduced stock of chicken from suppliers who are struggling to keep the fridges running and slaughter houses going with the country’s rolling blackouts, that now last several hours on end.
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Consequently, fast-food chains such as KFC have announced that they will be limiting their menu to try deal with the power outages. Ultimately, this is expected to affect the company’s income on a month-to-month basis.
We are sorry, but due to the ongoing loadshedding, some of our restaurants will be temporarily closed, while others may have limited availability on some of your favourite menu items.
— KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) December 27, 2022
We apologise for the inconvenience and will be back soon. pic.twitter.com/RTkWRQLDjO
However, there is in fact no shortage of chickens themselves.
The supply in the industry is there but the obstacles faced by power outages hinder this industry from functioning.
According to Izaak Breitenbach, the general manager of the South African Poultry Association, there is a secure supply of chickens on the farm.
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“We produce ample chicken and there is no chicken shortage. The problem is that even though we have enough chickens on the farms, we can’t get them slaughtered and that has caused the shortages we have seen not only in KFC but also other QSR restaurants and this may spill over into retail and wholesale."
Stay tuned for more on this developing story as we learn that 10-million chickens are being culled on the daily.
We will bring you the latest at East Coast Radio.
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