Dariusz Goszczyński, President of the Management Board of the National Poultry Council – Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the challenges facing the Polish poultry industry during the AdiFeed Poultry Academy. He emphasized that the fight for regionalization and foreign markets is particularly important for the Polish poultry sector, as 57% of Polish poultry production is exported.
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Export to African countries is key for the Polish poultry industry
About 67% of Polish poultry production is located in the European Union market. Key countries in trade with third countries include Great Britain, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Vietnam.
– A significant part of poultry meat exports goes to African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mozambique, Liberia and Benin. In addition, by 2030, they are expected to see an increase in poultry meat consumption, so our goal is to supply these markets. However, this requires regionalization in the event of avian influenza. China is also a promising market, but it does not recognize regionalization, so this market is still associated with certain problems – he explained.
How much is the Polish poultry sector worth?
In 2023, poultry production amounted to 3.27 million tonnes (+5.7%), while exports amounted to 1.87 million tonnes (+3.7%). Thanks to this, Poland still ranks first among the largest poultry producers in the EU, and third among the largest exporters of poultry meat in the world.
As Goszczyński said, the value of the Polish poultry sector is approximately PLN 50 million.
The KRD-IG President also noted that poultry meat will be the only meat whose consumption will increase by 2030 (by 4.7 percent), while beef consumption will drop by 0.3 percent and beef by 4.3 percent.
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What does the Polish poultry industry have to face?
Among the challenges facing the Polish poultry industry, Goszczyński also mentioned the import of poultry meat from Ukraine, bird flu, and disinformation aimed at making consumers disgusted with poultry meat and discouraging foreign contractors from Polish meat. Trade agreements are also a challenge, because the growing demands on European producers translate into higher production costs, while the import of cheaper meat from third countries is increasing.
Bad welfare
Another significant challenge mentioned by Goszczyński is the pursuit of sustainable production, which requires a balance between three key pillars, i.e. the economic, social and environmental dimensions.
The speaker also pointed out that the intensified "pro-welfare" activities in the EU are not good for the environment or society, because if the changes proposed by EFSA are implemented (applying a maximum stocking density of up to 11 kg/m2 – the current value is 33 kg/m2), the EU's self-sufficiency in poultry production will fall from the current 113% to only 31%, which would pose a serious threat to food security. In addition, the use of slow-growing breeds would be associated with higher emissions and higher water and feed consumption.
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