Page 29 - Food & Drink Magazine March 2021

MEAT, FISH & POULTRY
Ingham’s recently completed a major new automated feed mill at Murray Bridge that supplies other livestock industries with feed as well as its own operations. The company is planning new hatcheries to supply the day-old birds to its grower network.
At the grower level, broiler chicken sheds are highly automated with computer- controlled climate control to ensure optimal conditions for the growing period.
The ability of these control system to collect data and all aspects of rearing the birds has made the increased use of AI an option to improve the efficiency of the growing process. AI technology developed in the UK (Optifarm) is now available in Australia.
CHANGING EXPECTATIONS
Changing demographics mean the poultry sector is developing new production methods and product offerings.
Sustainability, environmental impacts and ethical considerations are becoming increasingly important.
Woolworths recently announced that its business is heading for carbon neutrality
– will this apply to their suppliers, particularly of protein?
In the EU, poultry product labelling includes the carbon content per kilogram involved in the growing, processing and packaging of the product.
In South Australia, new free-range farms built to supply Ingham’s make extensive use of renewable energy through the useofsolarpanelsandenergy saving equipment in the sheds themselves.
Hazeldene’s recently developed its Bare Bird product, for which chickens are grown in free range sheds and fed a vegetarian diet. The products sell at a premium over conventionally produced birds.
Activists in the Netherlands, who were against rapid growth genetics, were instrumental in
ABOVE: As chicken’s popularity grew, so did demand for a broader range of products.
RIGHT: Plucked. Hazeldene’s Bare Birds start out as vegetarian, free-range chickens.
Ingham’s has about 220 growers under contract and a further
62 breeder farms.
Baiada Poultry, the other major integrator with around
35 per cent of the market, sources its birds from both smaller family-owned contract growers. Baiada also owns Steggles and LilydaleFreeRangebrands.
There is, however, a growing proportion from a single corporate style contract grower Proten, which supplies about 40 per cent of Baiada’s birds.
Broiler production at all stages is a high-volume low margin business that is highly capital intensive.
All the integrators big and small have been investing in improved infrastructure.
the adoption of slower growing genetics, which
has since become established in Australia.
In 2019, Baiada introduced its Slow Hills brand, which sells through Coles. The Slow Hills breed is from poultry genetics company Hubbard and matures slower than other breeds.
These birds gain weight at a slower rate – roughly 60 per cent of their conventional cousins in the same amount of time purely due to genetics.
ADAPTATION
COVID-19 caused a number of challenges to chicken meat production including consumer hoarding, social distancing in processing plants, and the high risk of a facility becoming a hot spot.
Disruption to supply chains, which resulted in overstocking at freezer facilities, is only now beingresolvedasconsumption patterns return to normal.
There is also now a new disruptor to the industry – plant-based protein.
Just as KFC was a major driver for chicken’s popularity when its first Australian store opened in 1968, it and other QSRs are offering meat-free plant-based alternatives.
Indeed, Ingham’s recently announced its own plant-based
brand in Australian supermarkets and is already selling plant-based proteins to Aldi in New Zealand as well as some restaurant chains.
Announcing the company’s 1H FY21 financial report, Ingham’s CEO Jim Leighton said he expected plant-based protein could account for five per cent of the protein market over the next five to 10 years.
Meanwhile, in a world first, the Singapore Food Agency announced in December a cultivated meat – US-based Eat Just’s cultured chicken nuggets – met its food safety standards and was safe for human consumption.
While protein trends will continue to change, the dominance of chicken in Australia’s protein mix looks set toremain. ✷
✷ ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
Peter Bedwell has been
editor of Poultry Digest
since 2000 with his
partner Rosemary, and
has a long history in
trade media. He says
the highly technical nature of the poultry sector makes it equal parts interesting and challenging.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | March 2021 | Food&Drink business | 29