Less expensive at the time of the debate on purchasing power, the white meat of this gallinaceous from abroad is breaking records.
Article written by
Posted
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
Two years of Covid had pushed chicken imports down, but they are back up sharply. This movement began in 2021, with an increase of 40 to 45%, according to figures recently published by France Agrimer, the tricolor agricultural and maritime office. The resumption of traditional and collective catering (canteens) is a major contribution to this.
France is now the second largest buyer of poultry in Europe. One out of two chickens purchased, cooked and consumed in France comes from a neighboring country, whereas we have good regional labels. Three main sources are emerging: Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands, not to mention repackaging. As explained in the newspaper The echoes the president of the poultry interprofession, Jean-Michel Schaeffer: these are unpackaged and repackaged products which, in the end, hide their distant countries of origin: such as Thailand, Brazil and Ukraine for example.
There are production costs, but also less drastic health standards elsewhere. Today, two chicken fillets imported and repackaged in trays cost the consumer half the price of the equivalent raised and processed in France. Since March, a decree has forced all restaurateurs to specify the origin of the meat served on the plates, but the production of labeled chickens “France“ is insufficient to meet the demand for out-of-home catering. If large retailers are increasingly supplied by local producers, many breweries buy processed products from wholesalers. Added to that the episodes of bird flu which do not help.
All the professionals say it: we must invest in poultry houses and slaughterhouses. But these are hundreds of millions of euros for breeders, who are more and more likely to favor open-air breeding and short circuits.