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Brazil's avian flu outbreak puts local poultry industry on high alert

Published: 19 May. 2025, 18:13 Updated: 21 May. 2025, 14:20

Chicken is on sale at a large supermarket in Seoul on Jan. 23. [NEWS1]

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at poultry farms in Brazil, which supplies over 80 percent of Korea’s imported chicken, has triggered alarm in the chicken and food service industries.

Korean authorities began reviewing countermeasures such as expanding chicken imports from other countries and bringing in fertilized eggs after the Brazilian government’s decision to halt chicken exports for 60 days,

Korea imported 158,000 tons of Brazilian chicken last year according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday. That accounts for 86.1 percent of the country’s total chicken imports of 183,600 tons and 19.7 percent of its overall chicken consumption of 801,600 tons.

The ministry held a supply coordination meeting with domestic chicken processors and retailers to assess inventory levels and discuss emergency plans in response to the disruption in imports from Brazil.

“Apart from diversifying import sources, the only option is to boost domestic supply,” a ministry official said. “According to the industry, there is currently enough stock of Brazilian chicken to last about two months. In the meantime, we will consider a range of measures, including applying tariff quotas to increase imports from third countries and importing fertilized eggs to hatch and raise chickens domestically.”

The chicken industry is now on high alert.

A BHC store in Seoul on April 3, 2023. [NEWS1]

Many chicken franchise brands use Brazilian chicken, especially for boneless menu items.

At Gcova Chicken, boneless chicken made with Brazilian meat accounts for more than 80 percent of total sales.

Norangtongdak, which operates around 750 branches, also primarily uses Brazilian chicken. Mom’s Touch, which uses Brazilian chicken for some of its menu items, said it currently has a two-month supply in stock.

“We are working on countermeasures such as securing emergency stock to prevent disruptions in supply later on,” the company said.

Among the top three chicken franchises by sales, BHC Chicken switched from Brazilian to Korean chicken for its boneless menu items last year. BBQ still uses Brazilian chicken in some products at its baseball stadium outlets. Kyochon Chicken uses only domestically farmed chicken for boneless items and imports chicken from Thailand for wing dishes.

A BHC store in Seoul on Dec. 27, 2023. [NEWS1]

Shares of domestic chicken producers surged following news of the halt in Brazilian imports.

Harim closed at 3,800 won ($2.70), up 25.2 percent from the previous trading day.

Maniker jumped 30 percent, hitting the daily limit. Maniker F&G also surged by 12.3 percent, with Dongwoo Farm to Table jumping 12.7 percent.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]