NSW Farmers, in conjunction with The National Farmers’ Federation, will deliver the ‘Improving market transparency in Australian poultry meat supply chains’ project on behalf of the Australian Government.
The Australian poultry meat industry is highly concentrated, with a handful of processors controlling the processing sector. In NSW, most growers only have one potential processor to contract to. This reduces the ability of growers to negotiate fair and equitable contracts with their processors and is not in keeping with the outcomes expected of a functioning competitive market.
There is a lack of price transparency in the relationship between grower and processor, with supply and demand trends in the retail environment having no impact on the price paid by the processor to the grower. Supply is also ultimately limited by the number of birds in the production phase at any given time.
This project will explore the potential for a code of conduct to increase transparency in Australia’s poultry meat supply chains. A code could ensure the two-way sharing of data to help remove information asymmetries, as well as provide additional options to promote balance in supply chains.