Chicken is one of Australia and New Zealand’s favourite meats. Who doesn’t love a succulent roast chicken with crispy skin and gravy, or a Thai green chicken curry? However, our poultry industry is experiencing challenges and changing consumer behaviour, just as in other food industries.
That’s why at FPE, we aim to support our customers with more than just food processing equipment. We provide comprehensive support and a wealth of experience from 4 decades of being in business. Read on to learn about the factors currently impacting the poultry industry and what we can do as food processors to adapt.
Overview
- NZ & Australian poultry industry statistics
- Challenges facing poultry industry
- Insight from the poultry processing industry
- Processing equipment for poultry industry
- FAQs
Poultry industry trends & statistics
Australian poultry industry statistics
- Aussies love chicken: Australians consume 47.46kg of chicken per person each year; it’s the highest consumed meat in the country, ahead of beef, lamb and pork.
- And we produce a lot of it: In 2019-20, Australian poultry farming produced 1.2 million tonnes of poultry meat (carcass weight).
- But we don’t export that much: Australian poultry meat is mainly produced for the market right here in Australia, with very little exported overseas (in comparison to the red meat industry).
New Zealand poultry industry statistics
- Chicken is New Zealand’s favourite meat: In 2017, about 37.86 kilograms of poultry meat was consumed per person in New Zealand.
- And there are 24x as many chickens in New Zealand than people: In 2020, there were 5.084 million people in New Zealand and 118.7 million chickens.
Challenges facing the poultry industry
The past 5 years have been challenging for the poultry processing industry, with strong price competition limiting growth of the price paid per bird to poultry farmers. The Covid-19 pandemic has also caused issues for the industry. Restrictions on movement and gatherings forced many food-service establishments to limit their operations, thus decreasing demand for poultry. However, factors such as rising health consciousness, demand for value-added products and declining beef and lamb consumption have somewhat supported industry performance.
Insight from the poultry processing industry
The poultry industry is constantly evolving. We spoke to Daryl Holl:
“The unique nature of the Australian Poultry market continues to require the move to increased production rates allied with high flexibility and enhanced capability due to ongoing Consumer expectation for a wider variety of complex products”
Daryl Holl
Head of Engineering
Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd
Processing equipment for poultry industry
FPE supplies best-in-class poultry processing machinery for poultry primary and secondary processing in Australia and New Zealand.
| PROCESSING ACTIVITY | MANUFACTURER | USAGE EXAMPLES |
| Stunning | Accles & Shelvoke | Humane stunning of small animals |
| Tempering/thawing | AMTek Microwave | Thawing frozen poultry product |
| Hard & soft separation | SEPAmatic | Gently removing poultry flesh and sinew from bone |
| Mincing | SEPAmatic | Pushing soft flesh through a perforated drum to produce minced product |
| Slicing | Grasselli | Horizontal and vertical slicing |
| Cutting & dicing | Magurit | Dicing fresh or frozen blocks |
| Trimming | Bettcher Industries | Thigh deboning, defatting and trimming, as well as whole leg deboning |
| Can opening | DC Norris | Opening cans of ingredients for processing |
| HACCP compliance and X-Ray inspection | Eagle PI | Contaminant detection in unprocessed and finished product |
| Production hygiene | Elpress | Hand and boot sanitisation for workers Pallet and crate washing |
| Material handling | SYSPAL | Sanitising packaged product between processing areas Operator-safe machines for mixing, tipping, washing, weighing and stacking Euro bins of product |
So if you’re a poultry processor in Australia or New Zealand, trust FPE. For equipment, maintenance and more, we’re the leading provider with a reputation to uphold. Contact us today on 1800 882 549 in Australia and 0800 100 003 in New Zealand to discuss your business needs.
FAQs
What are the types of poultry?
In Australia and New Zealand, the most common types of poultry are chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks. There are also guinea fowl and squabs (young pigeons), which are game types of poultry. Chicken meat production accounts for 95% of all poultry production.
What are the types of poultry management?
There are two main types of poultry management, broiler (poultry for meat) and layer (poultry for eggs). In terms of poultry management systems, there are generally considered to be four types:
- Free range
- Semi-intensive
- Folding unit
- Intensive
