Overview of the Brazilian Poultry Industry

Brazil is the 3rd largest producer of Chicken meat in the world behind the US and its Bric Partner China. Brazil is the World’s leading exporter of Chicken products with a total of 18% of the Global Export trade. Brazil exported just under $ 7 billion worth of chicken meat for 2011 which was an increase of over 11% from 2010. Brazil has been the world’s largest exporter of chicken meat since 2004 and one of the key reasons for Brazil success is that it has the perfect conditions for the Poultry Industries’ production and development. The Chicken production process in Brazil is fully integrated which is constantly investing in the most up to date poultry production systems to improve the quality and standard of the chicken meat produced. Nutrition for the birds such as Soya and Corn is available in abundance in Brazil for example Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of Soya, so the Brazilian poultry can be fed quality locally produced foodstuffs.   

It’s estimated that the Brazilian Poultry industry employs over 4.5 million workers both directly and indirectly, the Poultry industry is responsible for around 1.5% of Brazil’s GDP. In 2011 Brazil produced over 12 million tones of chicken of which 65% were for domestic consumption which means on average the per capita consumption of chicken meat in Brazil is over 40 KG a year.

Brazil Integrated production and producer process sees the whole industry grouped together in clusters, from the breeding process, to the development, monitoring and slaughter and packaging of the meat the closeness of the whole process ensures the quality and the highest standards are met and the uniformed development of the chickens and their meat. The social aspects of producing and development is extremely relevant since it keeps producers close to the production so all different parts of the Chicken Industry can support each other and ensure the whole process is as efficient as possible. These clusters of Integrated Poultry Production support over 1000 Chicken producers and as a lot of these tend to be quite small without the integrated network than they would struggle to be competitive in the export market. A Hugh advantage for the Brazilian Poultry Industry is that it’s very efficient in the use of water and electricity and also tends to produce less harmful greenhouse gases when compared to livestock production. In a report in 2008 by the UK’s Defra (Department for Environmental. Food and Rural Affairs) from the British government it stated that Brazilian Chicken producers used 25% less electricity and has 17% less greenhouse emissions than UK Poultry production.

Bio Security in the Brazilian Poultry Industry is taken very seriously and treated as a key priority for the Industry. The Integrated systems ensure that the whole process can be managed in one secure site which means no mixing between the poultry and the local surrounding wildlife. Limiting the amount of people whole have access to the sites is also very important to help maintain the Bio Security in the Brazilian Poultry Industry. Brazilian Poultry producers implement treatment standards which are in-line and beyond the typical welfare standards for the poultry Industry worldwide. There is a constant inspection throughout the whole process of the production of the Poultry meat to ensure the healthy production of meat for the consumer.

The national animal and plant laboratories strictly monitor the Brazilian Poultry Industry to ensure high standards are met and they use state of the art equipment to do this. Monitoring and the control of pathogens, researching the presence of residues and contaminates in meat are all managed by the independent national animal and plant laboratories across the poultry Industry. Samples of meat are taken from each consignment to ensure no presence of Bird Influenza should it break out within the Brazilian Poultry Industry and therefore control any outbreaks at source.  As the Industry is fully integrated it means the chickens overall welfare is greatly improved as it only has to travel a very short distance from farm to slaughterhouse. Brazilian chicken producers have invested in modern technology to help improve the welfare of the chickens and therefore the quality of the meat produced. BricPartner has seen big investment by the Brazilian Poultry Industry in the whole production infrastructure in Buildings, Ventilation, Lighting, Logistics, Packaging and monitoring equipment and expects to see the continuation of investment as the Poultry Industry develops further in Brazil.

The Brazilian Poultry Industry provides a wide range of cuts of meat to meet the demands of the customers worldwide. Brazil exports its Poultry meat to over 100 countries and supply’s the worlds 5 continents, its biggest export market is the Middle East, followed by Africa and the EU. Brazils Exports to South Africa have increased in recent years by over 40% year on year which has put local producers in South Africa under pressure. The South African Poultry industry employs over 100 000 direct and indirect workers, it's estimated that as a country  South Africans consume over 1 Billion chickens per year which is more than double the equivalent in weight of Beef eaten. To put the Brazilian Poultry Industry in context when compared to South Africa it employs both direct and indirect about 45 times the amount of workers that are employed in SA. It’s hard for the South African Poultry Industry to compete with the Juggernaut of the Poultry world Brazil.

The majority of Brazil’s Poultry Industry is concentrated in the south and the Midwest of the country which is as far away from the important ecosystem of the Amazon as possible.
With the introduction of the integrated production process each stage of the production cycle can be closely monitored and inspected to ensure quality of the end product. Monitoring ensures trace ability which is a fundamental factor in the quality of the meat for the consumer. Brazil has many competitive advantages such as abundance of Soybean, Corn , Plowable lands, Water, Sun and many more factors which allow for healthy increases in production of meat and the quality of the Poultry meat produced. Brazilian chicken has an excellent reputation of producing quality safe food at competitive prices that satisfies consumers around the world.

With the Brazilian Poultry Industry continuing to invest heavily in the most modern up to date Poultry producing technology their position as the world’s number one exporter of Chicken meat will continue. The Brazilian Poultry industry is not only a leader in exports, but it also leads the way in environmental sustainability as well.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and BricPartner is not responsible for any errors.