Bounty Fresh leads poultry industry expansion in 2012

Manila, Philippines - The poultry industry reigns supreme in the Philippine agricultural scene as recent studies show that production in the poultry subsector has expanded by 7.06 percent in the first quarters of 2012.

A study conducted by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics of the Department of Agriculture showed that agricultural production grew by 1.08 percent in the first three months of the year.

Despite the slowdown in the production of crops and fish, the livestock and poultry subsectors experienced significant growth which helped boost the overall performance of the agricultural sector.

The poultry subsector accounts for 14.07 percent of the country’s total agricultural output.

The 7.38 percent growth in the production of chicken contributed to the overall boost of the poultry subsector to the farm sector.

The poultry industry, thus, contributed 6.74 percent to the growth in earnings with a gross value of P41.64 billion.

Consumers remain loyal to chicken as consumption of poultry is tagged at nine kilogram (kg) per capita consumption for the year 2012.

All three meat sectors – chicken, beef, and pork – have retained their per capita consumption from last year’s rating. Despite this, chicken remains the most stable of the three as its 9kg per capita consumption ahead of beef’s 4kg and pork’s 13kg.

Poultry integrators like Bounty Fresh feel the need for a more competitive performance now that the poultry sector’s expansion faces greater demands as imported poultry products decline.

Bounty Fresh, which remains at the forefront of the industry, sees this expansion as an opportunity to invest in new production facilities, processing, agricultural machineries, and other inputs.

According to Bounty Fresh Food Inc. group marketing manager Patricia Cheng, “The continued expansion in the industry would contract importation. Domestic demand is more likely to be satisfied by Filipino producers.”