Chicken meat in Russia began to rise in price rapidly

Broiler meat, which has always helped us out when we wanted something tasty and affordable, is threatened with a rise in price. Its cost can even overtake pork, the second most popular type of meat among Russians. According to a study by one of the major analytical companies, there is a shortage in the retail market for broiler carcasses and fillets.

However, while consumers are urged not to worry. As such, there is no shortage, but there is a “physical lack of volumes.” The exact dimensions of which are not known. How one differs from the other – the researchers do not explain. Trading networks are also silent on this score, as if they had taken water in their mouths. However, in three different supermarkets where we visited, the absence of carcasses or broiler fillets was not recorded.

And the prices, it seems, are still the same. Broilers, which are for every day – 140 rubles per kilogram, and those that housewives buy “on holidays” – 240. Poultry fillet (breast) is a little more expensive – 260 rubles.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the consumption of poultry meat in Russia increased by 2% compared to 2021 and averaged 35 kilograms per person. Analysts note the massive reorientation of our fellow citizens to poultry, since its meat was significantly lower than other types – especially “red” meat. This year, only pork can compete with broilers in terms of availability.

One of the reasons for the upcoming shortage of broilers, analysts say, is problems in the poultry industry of the Belgorod region, which is the leader in the production of poultry meat in Russia – it supplies a little more than 12% to the domestic market. In the areas bordering with Ukraine, it is restless, feed supplies are disrupted at poultry farms, and the logistics system is changing.

However, the world did not converge like a wedge in the Belgorod region. According to experts, there are a thousand and one reasons behind the “physical shortage of volumes”. For example, an increase in exports: with our production today, we can afford it. But in the first quarter of this year, probably too much was allowed – 4%, almost 90 thousand tons of products went abroad. As a rule, exports go to Saudi Arabia, but our deliveries are also waiting in China.

In addition, Russia has new territories. To bring down the prices of poultry meat there, certain volumes of broiler carcasses are sent there.

And yet, according to Rosselkhoznadzor, since the beginning of the year, 40 outbreaks of chicken flu have been recorded in different regions of the country …

In general, everything goes to the fact that the most affordable and consumed food by Russians will rise in price in the near future. And the first bell has already rung. Over the past week, broiler carcasses in the wholesale sector have increased in price by 9%, to 175 rubles per kilogram. Compared to the same period last year, the increase was 27%, the biggest price jump since 2015. The price of fillet in the wholesale has also risen, up to 275 rubles, and this is also a record for the last 8 years. Well, the rise in price, which happened in wholesale, after a while will inevitably happen in retail.

In general, chicken is approaching pork in terms of cost, and in the event of a sharp rise in retail prices, consumer preferences may swing just the same towards pork.

– You can buy it for 250 rubles per kilo for a promotion, – one customer at the meat department explains. – For example, pork ham, and without bones. A broiler carcass with bones is now not much cheaper.

Actually, the same trend is noted in Rusprodsoyuz. According to its participant, the research company NEech, the price of a broiler chicken carcass at the wholesale auction last week was higher than the price of a half-carcass of pork: 160 rubles per kilogram against 154 rubles.

“The reason for the increase in the price of chicken is a decrease in supply,” analysts emphasize. “However, there is no growth in retail prices yet, and it is too early to talk about a long-term trend.”

In turn, poultry farmers assure that they are not going to raise prices for broilers. True, even today their products are more expensive than in the store, on average 300 rubles per kilogram. “But fed purely on grain,” poultry farmers add.

– There will be a rise in prices, but within the limits of inflation, – says Vasily Timofeev from Lukhovitsy near Moscow. – The main thing for a bird is feed, and most of them are cereals. Before the new harvest, grain prices fell. Both wheat and barley today can be bought at 10 rubles per kilogram, we have no prerequisites for a rise in price.