‘South africa’s turkey appetite strictly seasonal’

South Africans’ appetite for whole turkeys increases as the festive season approaches, but declines rapidly when the season ends, according to industry data.

Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly on condition of anonymity, an industry expert said: “People have tried to produce turkeys locally since the 1970s, but have never succeeded. There just isn’t enough demand.”

Data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) indicated that in 2017, there were no imports of whole frozen turkeys until July, when 23t were imported. Imports came to an end in November, with 145t of whole turkeys imported. No further imports were registered after the festive season. While the SARS data showed a fairly constant volume of turkey meat being imported, with over

2 000t arriving in South Africa every month, this consisted mostly of mechanically deboned meat.

“We have never developed a regular habit of [consuming] turkey [meat]. Some of Astral Foods’ farms were [previously] used for turkey production, but were re-purposed for chicken production. Globally, turkey consumption is low, but stable. In the US, turkey sandwiches are, for example, sold year round and there is a constant demand,” the source said.

In 2012, South Africa imported 982t of whole frozen turkeys, with 1 142t imported in 2013, 983t in 2014, 871t in 2015, 524t in 2016, and 629t in 2017.

The country mostly imported turkey from Brazil and Canada, with 390t of processed turkey meat arriving from Brazil in September. South Africa also imported 490t of turkey meat from Canada in September. According to a report by the South African Poultry Association, the market did fluctuate, however, as outbreaks of avian influenza restricted viable sources for imports.

Duck imports were also affected by avian influenza in EU countries, North America and Brazil, with whole duck imports declining from 90t in 2012 to about 70t last year, and frozen portions declining from 235t in 2012 to about 113t in 2017. – Gerhard Uys