Bounty Fresh sees chicken industry as least vulnerable to foreign competition

BOUNTY FRESH GROUP said it considers the chicken industry to be less vulnerable to competition from imports than pork or beef, but cited the need to invest in transformation to support demand from the growing population.

Noting the 4% annual growth of the broiler chicken industry, Bounty Fresh CEO Kenneth Cheng said making the chicken farming industry “future-ready and resilient” will require it to keep up with the growing population and increasing affluence, which is tied to increased meat consumption.

One of the markers of the industry’s resilience is the emergence of its farms without damage after recent floods and earthquakes he said.

“If we are able to transform ourselves, we will feed the country,” Mr. Cheng told reporters during a lunch meeting.

He said technology’s role will be partly to offset a worker shortage, adding: “If we stick to old techniques of farming, we will run out of people.”

The company is committed to upholding biosecurity by investing in vaccines to prevent the spread of diseases. — Andre Christopher H. Alampay