Brine battle ‘may give smaller producers an edge’
SMALL and medium poultry producers believe a regulation limiting brine levels in chicken pieces will give emerging producers some muscle to compete with dominant players.
The producers, who represent about 35% of the total poultry industry, also this week accused some chicken importers of brining chicken during the repacking process.
Kevin Traviss of Spif Chicken in Limpopo said that while there were medium producers that brined their chicken, the practice was unnecessary and should be done away with.
Traviss said it was also unfair that producers that did not use brine were not allowed to say so on their packaging.
As of October this year, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ regulation regarding control over the sale of poultry meat will compel local chicken producers to reduce brine levels on individually quick-frozen portions to 15%.
At present as much as a third of the weight of such chicken portions could be salt water injected into the meat.
The South African Poultry Association has sought an interdict to halt the department from carrying out the regulation.
The association said that limiting brine would negatively impact on profits because the industry would be forced to produce more chicken to generate the same output.
It also argued that the department’s research that led to the 15% brine limit was flawed and that there were no monitoring systems in place to make sure producers comply.
The department said the regulation would prevent deceptive practices relating to labelling of poultry products and protect consumers by ensuring the quality of poultry meat was maintained.
The department is opposing the application.
Traviss said: “There are certainly arguments for the brining NOT A PEEP: Small and medium chicken producers in South Africa support moves to regulate the amount of brine added to frozen chicken portions of chicken meat to enhance taste and flavour, but, while [the poultry association] is trying to protect the practice, there can be little justification except for the profit motive for injecting chicken meat with brine beyond the new proposed 15% for portions and 10% for whole birds.”
He said big producers had invested heavily in brining injections and refrigerators, and small and medium producers could not compete with high brining levels.
Traviss added that should the regulation be implemented, small and medium producers would be able to compete against big producers.
“It will certainly put us in a position to compete with big producers because they will have to address their costs structure.
“The legislation will also force the big producers to become more efficient and re-look at their business models.”
Traviss said that some importers — during the repackaging process — thawed the frozen pieces and brine and refroze them.
“Until there is legislation in place compelling all imported chicken to be sold to end-consumers in its original packaging with detailed labels indicating the country of origin, the system is open to abuse whereby imported chicken could be defrosted, injected with brine and refrozen,” he said.
Another small producer, Geoffrey Anderson of Mikon Farm in Mpumalanga, who has started a Facebook page called Stop Brine Injection in SA, said current brining levels could be even higher than the 30% declared by the industry.
“The succulence in frozen chicken pieces can be achieved using low levels of brine. There is no need to inject 30%.”
Anderson said big producers had made billions out of brining by getting extra turnover without increasing input costs.
The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters said none of its members added brine to the chicken they imported.
CEO David Wolpert said importers that were brining should be named and shamed.
“We [at the association] know nothing of this practice. We do not brine and if there are importers brining they should be subjected to the same regulation that local industry is subjected to.”
Wolpert said selling imported products with original packaging was impractical as imports came in bigger quantities.
Succulence in frozen chicken pieces can be achieved using low brine levels