The poultry market consists of sales of poultry by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that slaughter poultry and prepare processed poultry and meat byproducts. Poultry includes chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, small game, and turkeys. Poultry processing is fully or semi-automated in most countries. The companies in the industry package and distribute their products through various distribution channels to both individual customers and commercial establishments. The poultry market is segmented into chicken, turkey, ducks, and other poultry.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), population increase, greater purchasing power, and urbanization have been significant drivers of growth in the poultry industry. Moreover, advances in breeding have enabled the production of birds that meet specialized purposes and are more profitable, but require expert management. The development and transfer of feed, slaughter, and processing technologies have led to improvements in safety and efficiency, but are more suitable for large-scale rather than small-scale producers.
The FAO postulated that these developments have led the poultry industry and the associated feed industry to scale up rapidly, to aggregate in proximity to input sources or final markets, and to undergo vertical integration. One factor of the structural change has been a shift towards contract farming in the rearing phase of broiler production, enabling farmers with medium-sized flocks to take advantage of advanced technology with a relatively low initial investment.
Furthermore, the FAO pointed out the growing division between industrialized production systems of large- and medium-size feeding into integrated value chains, and extensive production systems supporting livelihoods and supplying local or niche markets. The primary role of the former, according to the FAO, is to provide inexpensive and safe food to populations distant from the supply source, while the latter functions as a livelihood safety net, often as part of a diverse portfolio of income sources.
The U.S. is the world’s largest producer of poultry meat, with 17 percent of global output, followed by China and Brazil. China dominates the world’s egg production, with 37% globally, followed by the United States (7%) and India (6%). Asia is the most active egg-producing region, with more than 64 percent of global output. In order to meet growing demand, world poultry meat production soared from 9 to 132 million tonnes between 1961 and 2019, and egg production increased from 15 to 90 million tonnes. In 2019, poultry meat represented about 39 percent of global meat production, and within the three prior decades, world egg production had increased by 150 percent. Much of this growth has been in Asia, where production increased almost fourfold. Poultry is raised by about 80% of rural households in developing countries.
According to Research and Markets, the global poultry market was expected to grow from $310.7 billion in 2020 to $322.55 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%. The research firm attributed this growth chiefly due to the rearrangement of companies' operations and their efforts to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused operational challenges by restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and regulations inhibiting commercial activities. Further, the firm expected the market to reach $422.97 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 7%.
