Dr. Sushanth Rai, M/s Raison Nutrition | President, Karnataka Poultry Farmers & Breeders Association (KPFBA) in an exclusive interview to our Poultry Trends magazine, shares the Karnataka poultry sector challenges and the future trends. He also shares KPFBA objectives and ambitions and member contribution to the development of chicken processing vertical in the State.

Dr. Sushanth Rai is a Veterinary Graduate from VET College, Bangalore & University Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences Bidar. He has been serving the poultry industry for more than two decades and has trained several farmers to establish farms for better living, through continuous technical support and management. He has also undergone hands on training on Poultry Breeding, Hatching and Feed Milling Technology at North Carolina State University, USA.

Excerpts of the interview are reproduced as follows:

What are the Post Covid challenges for Poultry Sector which you are facing currently?
Dr. Sushanth Rai : Without talking about the challenges during COVID 19, we cannot talk about Post COVID Challenges.

COVID 19 Challenges – Poultry sector went through stress tests during early 2020’s. Many farmers perished. Few survived with huge scars. Though there is no connection between COVID-19 and chicken & egg consumption, WhatsApp university created negative false campaigns of videos, destroying consumer confidence & our profession. Added to this, PETA compared wild animal unorganized wet markets of Wuhan to organized & scientifically run egg & chicken sectors, this drove the last nail into our coffin. Consumer instead of consuming more & more eggs & chicken, boosting immunity, shunned away from consumption. Markets plummeted. Blood bath started from mid Jan 2020 & went on till April 2020. Indian poultry sector estimates a loss of 28,000 Crores in this short period. Thanks to Central & State Government authorities, seeing our plight, they came to the rescue by issuing Public Confidence restoration statements, suggesting consumption of egg & chicken to be safe, boosting immunity & health. This restored public confidence and we started to see recovery of consumption and prices starting May 2020.

Post COVID 19 Challenges –

1. CV19 impact is different in different states, movement of poultry products between States is becoming a challenge.
2. As poultry farming is recovering, paying its dues to suppliers & banks, the new challenge we face is the rising raw material cost. Maize, Soya de oiled cake, lysine, methionine etc. all have been going through the roof over the last few months. This is driving the production cost higher & higher. We fear this may impact consumption.
3. Last but not the least, the recent outbreak of bird flu, in few parts of the country. Consumers went into the shell, dropping consumption, crashing markets in Jan 2021 to Feb 2021.

Is the poultry sector back on track, or still in the road to recovery?
Dr. Sushanth Rai: As the consumers learned the importance of immunity and got awareness through right communication materials, the Poultry sector bounced back normal from June 2020 onwards with as much as 70% consumption in comparison to pre-covid times. And at present, most of the breeding farms are operating on its full capacity to cater to the growing needs of the consumers. While the sector bounced back, it developed many innovative ways in marketing of the poultry products. Such as more intensive sales through app and web-based platforms also known as contact less sales, where the payment is made online and the product is delivered at the door.

Did the recent bird flu news affect the broiler market in Karnataka?
Dr. Sushanth Rai: Karnataka did not report a single outbreak of bird flu as Karnataka’s poultry farming is very well organized and run-on scientific protocols of neatness, cleanliness and strict biosecurity, as per the guidelines issued by KPFBA. Unfortunately, bird flu outbreaks in other parts of India and media publicity, did scare Karnataka’s consumers, driving consumption down so prices dropped. Jan 2021 & Feb 2021 were very tough months for our profession again.

What are the key objectives and ambitions of KPFBA, and what are your future plans?
Dr. Sushanth Rai: KPFBA is a platform for all the Breeders operating in the State of Karnataka, and it wants all the operators to be on board with KPFBA including but not limited to breeders having commercial breeds such as Cobb, AP95, Hubbard and the like. Being an apex body of poultry farmers in Karnataka, it intends to serve the poultry sector in terms of the following objectives:

• To promote organized development of poultry farming.
• To collect, maintain and share the information of poultry farming activity in the State.
• To liaise between poultry farming community & research Institutions.
• To represent poultry farming needs to the government at local, State and Central level.
• To represent Karnataka Poultry farming activity to other associations and stakeholders nationally & internationally.
• Work towards a holistic 360-degree development of the poultry sector from farm to fork, so as to produce the most affordable nutritious proteins for our consumers.

KPFBA is officially completing its three decades of active existence in this year, as it started in the year 1991. We are planning to celebrate the 30th year in a vibrant way shortly.

How is chicken processing now changing shape in Karnataka ?
Dr. Sushanth Rai: We can answer this question in two parts, Rural Karnataka & Urban Karnataka.

• Rural Karnataka – Rural parts of the State continue to thrive on wet live bird sales. Price is the only factor that drives consumption in this segment.
• Urban Karnataka – Chicken processing on scientific grounds is gaining acceptance in this segment. Post COVID-19 people wanting to buy safe food, from a safe place, are gaining traction. During the COVID-19 & post COVID-19 era, people have restricted their movements. They prefer buying all & most of their consumables online & have them home delivered. This convenience behaviour of consumers has massively supported centralized processing activity. On top of this, urban Karnataka consumers prefer not to enter the live animal butchery shops which is very gory to look at and very unpleasant experience. This movement has intensified post COVID-19. This has helped processing and retailing in a better environment, using better technology / tools and giving better buying experience to urban consumers through marketplace, online & offline. So, supporting processing.

How are your members contributing to the development of Chicken Processing Vertical in Karnataka?
Dr. Sushanth Rai: Some of our members are aggressively pursuing Chicken Processing activities, and are constantly expanding their business in this line for example,

• One of our member M/s Nanda Group started their first retail outlet Nandu’s in 2016, and now has 55 retail outlets in Bangalore.
• Another member M/s Lifeline Feeds and Farms Pvt Ltd Started a mini slaughtering plant of 200 birds per hour capacity with first retail outlet under the brand name LifeLine’s Tender Chicken in Chickmagaluru and now it has 40 retail outlets in Bangalore & Chickamagaluru with ultra-modern slaughtering facility with a capacity of 3500 birds per hour.
• Al-Arif Group has 23 Outlets in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi District, Uttara Karnataka & Shimogga District with a total capacity of processing 15,000 birds per day, which started in 2010 in Kundapur, and they have ventured into further processing from 2018 and supplies RTE & ETC products under the brand name Al-Arif Foods to neighbouring states also.
• Ideal Chicken has about 17 outlets, which started in 2005 and process about 10000 birds per day to cater the consumers of Mangalore, Udupi and some parts of Kerala.
• Coastal Hatcheries started its first manual Processing Plant in 1998 and at present it operates 13 outlets in South Canara, Udupi & Mysore to sell chilled Chicken. It has a capacity of processing 2000 birds per hour with ultra-modern machinery of Euro norms installed in 2019.
• Ruchi & Souza Hatcheries has about 6 outlets in Mangalore and Chikmangalore District.
• Kwality Chicken is operating with Three outlets in Belagavi / Belgaum under the brand name Belchick.
• Uncle Chicken, MyChicken&More, Kavi Protein, The Meat Factory, Farm Fresh and many more are serving Chilled, RTE, RTC Chicken Products in Karnataka.

The list of operators is growing every month. Many of these operators also do institutional sales to hotels, restaurants, quick service restaurants and caterers too.

In addition to the above, many Aggregators are also mushrooming up to serve the customers through app and web-based sales too.

Large Scale Chicken Processing is said to be more environment friendly as opposed to slaughtering at local retail shops, please comment.
Dr. Sushanth Rai: You are spot on. Solid & liquid waste generated in organized processing is handled scientifically with huge responsibility. Solid waste is sterilized into rendered meal to be used as raw material in pet food industry. Liquid waste goes through ETP, the resultant water is crop agriculture grade and is also used to recharge the ground water level. So, becoming a circular economy and environmentally sustainable. Yes, processing is very environmentally friendly and is the future. Local live animal butcheries handle solid and liquid waste differently and it clogs all municipality sewage drain lines. This is public health hazard and nuisance.

What is the reason to witness such a growth in the processing sector as compared to live bird markets?
Dr.Sushanth Rai: It is reported that the sales are growing in Processed Chicken Outlet due to the hygiene factors and well maintained odour free shops, as it attracts women to visit the shops to choose their choice of meat products as compared to regular chicken shops where normally the men visit to purchase their meat requirements.

How you see the future of industry in the next 2 years.
Dr.Sushanth Rai: Today India’s approximate consumption is 75 eggs per person per year and 4 kgs of chicken per person per year. This is too low compared to world averages. To boost protein levels in people, animal protein intake will increase driving the industry higher, both in egg & chicken. Post COVID-19 we see V type economy recovery, leading to more manufacturing happening in India, more jobs generation, more disposable income in hands of people, this will only drive consumption north in next 2 years. Rural India will thrive with live bird retail stores. Urban India will see a slow shift from wet live bird retailing to new age retailing. We see processing and brands gaining support from urban consumers. Technology deployment will be massive in backend operations. With the introduction of the farm bill, we also see the possibilities of investment into crop agriculture infrastructure increasing raw material quality, dropping wastages and driving efficiencies across the backend chain. Poultry farming will go through a very exciting phase of opportunities in the next two years.

At present about 92% of the poultry products are sold through unorganized wet market / retail outlets by doing on the spot slaughtering, and about 8% of it is sold through branded retail outlets which they process centrally in the city outskirts. As the eating habits are changing dramatically among the urban consumers, particularly post covid this ratio of 92:8 may change its course soon and the processing vertical may take over shortly, and by 2025 we may see a ratio of 70:30 between convention shops and branded shops to serve daily requirement of chicken to the consumers.

Any message to the industry and farmers of other States.
Dr. Sushanth Rai: Industry Associations plan an important role during any crisis and put lots of efforts in curbing any obstacles which the industry faces. From this platform of Poultry Trends magazine, I would like to give a message to all the players in Poultry Sector to support your State Poultry Associations in whatever possible means and ways, because associations can do wonders if and only if they are empowered with resources such as men by volunteering, material by way of expertise and information and money by way of sponsoring whenever needed and paying on time membership subscriptions.