Chicken prices on the rise

The company says the price rise of approximately 10% is the result of ongoing cost pressures on the industry, including increases in labour, feed and fuel impacting supply chain costs.

“No business is exempt from the rising costs of labour, transport, fuel and logistics. We’ve also seen across-the-board increases in insurance and utilities and this, coupled with employee shortages, has meant that there are no costs going down,” says Tegel chief executive Egbert Segers.

Segers says the war in Ukraine has compounded the issues.

“Prior to the Ukraine war, we were seeing global pressure on grain demand, availability was tight, and prices were rising. The war has now put added pressure on the availability and supply of grains and oil seed products which are key components in chicken feed around the world.

“The price of feed is at a more than 20-year high and even the 10% price rise won’t cover the ongoing cost pressures on chicken producers.”

Segers says Tegel is working with retailers to ensure affordable options are still available to all customers.

“Chicken has always been a great source of protein and is still significantly cheaper than most red meat cuts. We will continue to work hard to make sure it remains accessible to as many Kiwis as possible.”