Broiler chicken is the most progressive animal enterprise in the Philippines nowadays. Due to a lack of supply, as well as the higher cost of pork brought on by the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak, consumers also switched from pork to chicken.

The production of chicken broiler (and egg production) has grown twofold over the past two decades, from around a million metric tons (MMT) in 2000 to about 2 MMT in 2020. 1.93 MMT worth of goods was produced in 2019. The gross value of chicken production in that same year, at current prices, was P173.94 billion in revenue and P179.21 billion in earnings.

Chicken remains the preferred meat of Filipinos. For the past two years, the per capita consumption of poultry in the Philippines has remained at 14.05 kg, lower than the per capita consumption in 2019 which was around 14.96 kg. 

Chicken Inventory

According to the Chicken Situation Report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the supply of broiler chickens grew considerably between 1990 to 2019. The table below shows the increasing trend of Philippine broiler production according to the PSA.

Table 1. Estimated Broiler Production in the Philippines (F*=forecasted)

In terms of inventory from the PSA as presented in Figure 1 below, Central Luzon reported the highest total chicken population of 29.77 million birds. This was followed by Northern Mindanao with 27.25 million birds and CALABARZON with 23.41 million birds. These three regions accounted for 42.2 percent of the total chicken inventory in the country.

Also, the PSA reported Western Visayas to have the highest inventory of native/improved chicken with 12.39 million birds. Broiler chicken inventory was highest in Central Luzon with 14.97 million birds while CALABARZON shared the highest inventory of layer chicken with 15.21 million birds.

Figure 1. Distribution of Total Chicken Inventory by Region as of October 2021

Figure 2. Regions of the Philippines (Source: GeoCurrents)

Farm Gate Prices

According to PSA Philippine Broiler Production Report (2021), it can be noted that for the last 5 years, the year 2021 had the highest farm gate prices. Breeders cut down their production causing a low supply of DOC in the market. The table below shows the Comparative Prices of Chicken from 2017-2021.

Of all the livestock and poultry products raised on industrial farms, broiler chickens are one of the least expensive at the farm gate. The typical farmgate price of a broiler chicken is PhP 100.00 per bird.

Table 2. Comparative Prices of Chicken from 2017-2021

Shortage

Early this year, the industry suffered a huge blow which obtain low imports of GP and PS. The main culprit is the banning of breeder sources due to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak that happened during the 1^st and 2^nd Quarters of the year. Although the demand is high due to the opening of the economy raisers cannot keep up due to low production, slow growth, inability to import, and poor harvest recovery and runting due to Fowl Adenovirus (IBH).

Raisers are now hoping the newly elected President to prioritize the sector amid various challenges. The government already reduced the duty for corn to support the operation of large-scale broiler farms. They also guaranteed there is enough stock in cold storage facilities.

Still a beam of hope in the coming Christmas season is seen by farmers. The high cost of pork made consumers shift to chicken which increased its demand and the weekly increase in prices makes it a brightspot for the Philippine poultry sector.

Type of Broiler Farms

According to the Benchmarking of Poultry and Livestock Industries 2012 and USDA FAS Manila Philippine Broiler Market Trends and Prospects 2020, broiler farms are classified as either Commercial, Non-Integrators, or Large/Integrators, depending on their features, as per described in Table 3.

Product Forms

There are numerous varieties of broiler chickens. The various broiler chicken varieties available on the market now are categorized in the table below based on the Philippine Poultry Broiler Industry Roadmap 2022-2040:

Each location has a different optimal market live weight for chicken. While Luzon favors birds that weigh 1.5 to 1.8 kg, Visayas prefers smaller birds that weigh 1.4 to 1.5 kg live weight. The “viajeros” favor birds with more weight. The United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) also has a different classification as shown below from the Philippine Poultry Broiler Industry Roadmap 2022-2040:

Exportation

Japan, Oman, Australia, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia are the Philippines’ best-performing destinations for chicken meat. The amount of chicken meat shipped by the Philippines in 2020 was 1,500 metric tons.

Importation

The Netherlands, the United States, Brazil, Belgium, and Canada were the top 5 exporters of chicken meat to the Philippine market according to the National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Hotels, restaurants, and other establishments frequently use imported chicken cuts because consumer demand has led them to branch out beyond just leg cut to a variety of additional chicken cuts. On the other hand, processed frozen goods like nuggets and hotdogs are made of mechanically deboned meat (MDM), offal, fats, and rinds. Figure 3 below shows the trend of the quantity of chicken importation from 2000 to 2020.

Bibliography:

• Benchmarking of Poultry and Livestock Industries 2012 and USDA FAS Manila Philippine Broiler Market Trends and Prospects 2020. Retrieved from http://www.pcaf.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/%20%20%20%20%20fNL.pdf
• Philippine Poultry Broiler Industry Roadmap 2022-2040. Retrieved from http://www.pcaf.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/%20%20%20%20%20fNL.pdf
• Philippine Statistic Authority Broiler Production Report 2021. Retrieved from https://psa.gov.ph/content/chicken-situation-report
• United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) Website