Barbadians could see a modest increase in poultry prices as the industry grapples with supply chain disruptions and rising production costs.
The Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA) has warned that while efforts are being made to keep chicken and eggs affordable, consumers may face price hikes of up to one dollar in the coming months.
On Wednesday, top officials gave assurances that all was being done to ensure the average consumer could afford chicken and eggs, indicating that while some of the production costs will be passed on to consumers, the price would not increase by more than one dollar.
In a move to avoid a shortage of chicken, the island’s main hatchery had to source fertile hatching eggs from a new supplier.
Last month, Barry Gale, managing director of Gale’s Agro Products, said he had to increase the price of chicks in March because he could no longer source eggs from his traditional supplier in the United States due to an avian influenza outbreak in the state of Georgia. He explained that while the farm that supplies him with eggs was not affected, as a precautionary measure that particular farming zone in Georgia was on lockdown, prohibiting any poultry products from leaving that area.
It remains unclear when that zone will reopen.
Gale said he therefore had to ship eggs from Europe at a cost of about 10 per cent more than usual that will be passed on to his clientele.
BEPPA board member Amir Juman, the executive director of Fasons Food Inc. (Amir’s Chicken), told Barbados TODAY that some players, especially small farmers, could not absorb all the costs and the increase was only to cover the additional overheads.
“We are going to increase from April,” he said “The increase is not major, it is going to be in the cents region and we are just charging additional because of what is happening, that is all. We are not collecting for ourselves, we are not collecting to make the company more profitable; it is just to pay our bills.
“Right now the industry is facing the same costs and consumers have to realise that we are all part of an economical system, every industry supports another industry and every job supports another job.”
Juman added that small farmers will definitely not be able to absorb a 10 per cent increase in production costs and will increase their prices. He explained, however, that his decision to slightly carry up his prices was a way to protect small businesses.
He said that if the bigger players absorbed the price increase and kept the current price intact, small farmers would experience a sharp and drastic dip in sales as demand would rise for cheaper prices.
His decision, he said, would help to level the playing field.
When contacted, the island’s largest poultry supplier, Chickmont, said they were not going to increase prices for now.
“Right now we don’t have any plans to increase the price but that is not to say that that cannot change,” said Chickmont Foods chairman Peter Defreitas.
Immediate past president of BEPPA Steven Layne said there would be a board meeting next week and a later members meeting to discuss the issues arising in the sector.
Layne also highlighted that there was a possibility that poultry prices could even go up further because of the expected rise in the cost of grain on the international market. He said officials were closely monitoring the situation but all indicators suggested that the price of grain would go up and that would have a significant impact on the cost of local feed.
“We will do all that we can to ensure Barbadians can afford chicken. We are meeting to discuss these challenges with the Minister of Agriculture and we will determine if an increase will be necessary,” Layne said. (SZB)
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