Chicken feet at risk. Brazil stopped exporting chickens to China

Wholesale prices of the delicacy have jumped around 10% since Brazil halted chicken exports to China over the weekend following an outbreak of Newcastle virus, according to Qinbaowang, a food industry website. While China produces chicken feet, a waste product in many countries, it’s heavily reliant on supply from overseas. It imported around $2.3 billion worth last year, with more than 40% coming from Brazil. 

Prices of the poultry product are up by around a third since the beginning of 2022, according to data from the website of Xinfadi, an agricultural market in Beijing. Chicken feet are now more than twice as costly as wholesale prices of regular bird meat.

The growing popularity of the savory treat – which has become a popular item in hotpot and noodle restaurants — is one reason why they’re becoming so expensive. Chefs have also developed new varieties, such as tiger skin fried chicken feet or lemon-flavored boneless ones, and they’re also rich in skin-enhancing collagen. 

Chain outlets specializing in chicken feet have sprouted up across China in recent years, and producers of semi-cooked food have started to supply them to meet surging demand from the catering industry, according to reports in local media.  

The Brazilian ban is the latest example of the kind of supply shock, which has also helped push up prices in recent years. Bird flu outbreaks around the world contributed to a 20% drop in Chinese imports last year, followed by a 25% decline in the first half of 2024, customs data show.

The growing popularity of chicken feet has meant that — so far at least — they’ve been able to buck the trend of consumers in China – hit by a worsening economic downturn — foregoing more expensive foods. But the Brazilian ban could be the final straw, with local media reports and social media showing people complaining about their unaffordability.

Much will depend on whether Brazil is able to quickly contain the virus outbreak. The country is the biggest supplier of all chicken products to China, accounting for around 60% of imports in the first half of 2024. About a fifth of that was chicken feet.

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