Chicken consumption on the increase in Australia

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) says Australians consume an average of 37 kilograms of chicken meat each per year, up from about six kilograms in the 1960s.

Chicken has overtaken beef as the favourite mealtime meat and forecasts suggest chicken consumption will keep rising. “The statistics coming out of ABARE suggest chicken meat consumption will go to 42 kilograms and we expect it to go beyond that,” said George Schlahtych, a group executive manager for Inghams Enterprises. In their processing plant in northern Adelaide, whole chickens are prepared for barbecue chook shops, marinated kebabs made for Woolworths and nuggets for KFC.

“In fact we’re looking at getting ready for a doubling of this industry within the next 10 to 12 years,” Schlahtych said. But current chicken sheds are at capacity and the industry is urging more people to take up chicken farming.

The $4 billion chicken industry in Australia is dominated by Inghams Enterprises and Baiada Poultry. Both have scores of growers in South Australia and have built processing plants on the outskirts of Adelaide (Baiada markets itself under the Steggles and Lilydale brands).

On a national scale, South Australia sits in fourth in terms of chicken numbers, behind New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The South Australian Government released a plan five years ago aimed at capturing at least 50 per cent of growth in the industry over the decade ahead.

Source: ABC News