A survey carried out by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT has revealed that most suppliers of day old chicks are still struggling to sell their products since the beginning of the year 2022 due to reduced demand for day old chicks on the local market.
Francis Mwila, a sales coordinator at Ross Breeders has revealed to ZBT that business is currently very slow and this could be attributed to the fact that people do not have disposable income, adding that a number of activities such as farming and paying of school fees has contributed to the reduced trade in broiler chickens.
Speaking in an interview with ZBT, Mwila said despite the dampened demand, hatcheries have opted not to cut production of day old chicks due to the uncertainty in the market.
“We cannot reduce production because the poultry industry keeps evolving, you cut production today because there is reduced demand, tomorrow you get surprised that there are more people that want to buy day old chicks, so what do you do, there is just so much uncertainty in the market”, he said.
Mwila disclosed that some traders have reduced the prices of live chickens on the market and are not making as much profit as they used to because of the low demand, adding that this is despite the cost of growing chickens to the required size remaining high.
He said the consumer’s buying power is currently low and traders have opted to sell their products at reduced prices but before full maturity, as it is more viable than keeping the chickens for a longer period, which will only result in more costs for the traders in terms of more feed for the chickens.
“Prices are going down, those who were selling at K85, K90 and K95 are no longer selling at that price and they are now selling between K65 and K75. The price has come down as a result of low demand, people just can not afford to buy and since they are trying to save, you sell it at a low price so that’s the case at the moment”, he said.
He noted that although the demand for day old chicks has remained low, most suppliers are hopeful that the situation will improve by mid-March to April adding that the producers who have reduced their prices are not realising as much profit as before, which is negatively affecting the business considering the high cost of raw materials.
“The situation has not improved, this is our off-peak season which is coupled with a number of challenges in the industry like people paying school fees in January and February, one thing we have noticed is that people don’t seem to have disposable income, money is a problem now”, he said.
