Thailand's poultry industry

The poultry industry was one of Thailand's most promising agri-food segments until it was devastated by the 2004 outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak (HPAI), or avian flu. However, it has proven resilient in the face of adversity and is now ramping up efforts to reclaim its share of the world poultry market, posting constant growth of 5 per cent CAGR from 2004 until the end of last year, according to OAE figures. Chicken meat production reached 1.4m tonnes last year, ranking it the country's no.1 meat product, followed by pork (0.9m tonnes) and beef (0.2m tonnes), according to OAE. Industry supply – estimated at 0.9m tonnes, up almost 40 per cent from the previous decade – was the main driver of domestic consumption. Essentially, Thai people are consuming more chicken now than they were ten years ago because of better prices and availability. Chicken meat is the least expensive source of protein in the meat market.

There is also now a wider range of commonly available chicken products such as boneless chicken meat, ready-to-cook chicken meals and chicken nuggets which can be purchased in hypermarkets and convenience stores. In addition, the rising popularity of fast food restaurants has played an important role in stimulating domestic consumption as leading chains such as KFC, Chester's Grill and Sizzler are offering more chicken menus as they aggressively expand their networks. Enjoying current CAGR of 8 per cent, the fast food industry is expected to maintain healthy growth for the foreseeable future.