Poultry Takes Center Stage

Better clip those wings.

‘Cause poultry is poised to take flight.

Demand is up and supply is tight. And you know what that means… price increases.

Burgers for bok bok: Rapid inflation (cue broken record) is fueling a jump in food prices, and that’s got folks passing on beef and eating more chicken.

But it’s not just inflation.

Soundbite: According to Nan-Dirk Mulder, Senior Analyst of Animal Protein at Rabobank, “Weaker economic growth and reduced consumer confidence—in part related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—will lead to more consumers trading down to chicken.”

And that’s good news for the poultry industry. But with feed and fuel prices skyrocketing and flock numbers down thanks to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), consumers across the globe will see price increases.

Refresher: HPAI resulted in the culling of 53M birds across Europe and 38M in the U.S.

Tyson brings the cash: With increased demand expected not only in the short term but in the long term (like, reaaallllly loooong term) as well, Tyson is banking on bigger buckets o’ chicken.

This week, the poultry giant announced it’s getting in on the growing Middle Eastern poultry market by acquiring a major stake in Saudi Arabia’s Tanmiah Food Co.

The price tag? $70M.

With the booming world population and the fact that poultry doesn’t come with the regional religious/cultural restrictions of beef and pork, chicken is expected to account for a full 40% of worldwide meat consumption by 2030.

That’s a lot of nuggets.