Poultry consumption drops sharply

After Tet, purchasing power of many fresh foods decreased, especially pork and poultry.

Difficulties in sales

After the Lunar New Year, the purchasing power of many types of fresh foods decreased, especially pork and poultry . According to many traders and businesses, the amount of meat sold during Tet this year has decreased by 10-30% compared to Tet 2023. The reason is that many people reduce spending and no longer buy a lot of food to stock up during Tet. At the same time, consumers tend to use a variety of foods.

In Son Tay, Mr. Truong Xuan Thanh's house - Duong Lam Commune, Son Tay, Hanoi, as well as many poultry farmers here, specializes in raising sugarcane chickens. Native chickens always have high prices, but before Tet, poultry farmers have had difficulty in selling. The batch of chickens for Tet could not be sold, so he had to raise them for another month.

Mr. Truong Xuan Thanh - Duong Lam Commune, Son Tay, Hanoi said: "Selling for 80,000 VND is for each chicken, but if sold young or in bulk, it will only be over 70,000 VND. If you raise the chicken to lay eggs, after 7 months the price will increase to about 90,000 VND, but if you add another two months, the cost of food and expenses will be too high."

The difficulties in selling poultry of Mr. Thanh and other poultry farmers are explained at Ha Vy market, a poultry wholesale market in Hanoi.

Ms. Le Thi Yen - a small trader at Ha Vy poultry wholesale market, Hanoi shared: "Sales are very slow, so I have to sell a batch of chicken for 2 days to finish. Before, it was only sold in one day. Now it takes 2 days to sell, so I have to stretch it out, so people have to slow down."

According to retailers, there are still many chickens ready for sale in farms and households. Meanwhile, in the market, purchasing power has decreased sharply.

Mr. Le Ngoc Giang - a small trader at Ha Vy poultry wholesale market, Hanoi said: "Last year, my family's business sold 2-3 tons per day, but this year the output is less, only less than 2 tons. This year after Tet, the market is slow. At this time, the price is a bit low. If we calculate the current price, this year's price is only 70% compared to last year's price."

"There is still a lot of leftover chicken from Tet. Now we have to help people catch chickens to release some of it, the consumption is very slow. The consumption is usually around 60 tons after Tet, this year it is only around 20-40 tons" - Mr. Le Van Trung - Deputy Head of the Management Board of Ha Vy Poultry Wholesale Market, Hanoi commented.

According to information from traders, the highest prices are currently for Mia chicken, Minh Du chicken, Ri chicken and Noi chicken at 73,000 VND/kg, 57,000 VND/kg, 50,000 VND/kg and 74,000 VND/kg, respectively.

Restocking or stopping is a problem for breeders.

Restock or pause?

This reality requires each farmer to adapt to the market to make timely adjustments.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry, in 2023, the total poultry flock will be about 550 million. Of which, chicken flocks account for 80%, equivalent to about 440 million. Purchasing power has decreased sharply while the supply in poultry farming households is still stagnant, so whether to restock or temporarily stop is a problem for farmers.

Because of the large farm area, Mr. Nguyen Viet Thu's family in Bac Son commune, Soc Son district always has 5 chicken and duck farms. The farming method is rotational, after selling off one flock, Mr. Thu disinfects it and then starts a new flock. During the recent Lunar New Year, Mr. Thu planned to sell 2,000 chickens, but the output and price were not as expected. Although he was cautious to restore the flock to the market after Tet, selling is not easy at present.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Thu - Do Luong Hamlet, Bac Son Commune, Soc Son, Hanoi shared: "We prepared 2,000 ducks and 1,500 chickens in November to prepare for January. We have enough cages and space, always rotating and intercropping to meet the needs of society".

In the area producing native chicken breeds in Duong Lam, Son Tay, many households are restocking their flocks in stages to always have a supply to meet market demand. However, there are still thousands of chickens left over from the Tet sale, so this time Mr. Chien's family has fewer chickens than before.

"I recently re-herded 1,500 chickens, which are now almost 1 month old. This year, the consumption rate is lower than last year, so there are more difficulties. Before Tet, there were actually flocks of chickens that had not been sold. And after Tet, it was even slower" - Mr. Ha Van Chien - Duong Lam Commune, Son Tay, Hanoi confided.

During the recent Lunar New Year, in addition to selling to traders, Ms. Quy's family also brought chickens directly to the market to sell. Seeing that the market and supply would be abundant after Tet, Ms. Quy did not re-herd but left the barn empty at the end of 2023. At this time, her family had just started herding but also carefully calculated the output.

Ms. Can Thi Quy - Tich Giang Commune, Phuc Tho, Hanoi said that each time she goes in, she goes in a few days apart. But this year, her family plans to go in two batches, about a month apart, to spread out the supply and make selling easier.

The livestock industry also set a target of over 2.3 million tons of poultry meat output in 2024, an increase of over 3.1% over last year. The Department of Livestock also recommended that households implement chain-linked livestock farming to proactively manage inputs and outputs.

According to VTV.vn

Source