Profile
Ricardo Santin is CEO of the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein, ABPA, where he has led the poultry division since April 2008. The ABPA works with all the major players in the Brazilian poultry industry. It is involved in government negotiations, new market launches as well as monitoring, trade promo- tion and the international representation of the Brazilian poultry industry. In addition, Santin is vice-president of the International Poultry Council, where he is involved in working with other poultry producing countries and inter- national organisations such as FAO, CODEX and OIE. Santin will take over the presidency of ABPA from Francisco Turra from April 2020.
can Swine Fever in Asia. Pork meat has been substituted with poultry for the simple reason that there is no pork meat supply. For example, China just recently imported 100 shipping contain- ers of breast meat, something they never ever did before. Across the board, we see demand rising and we can already conclude that 2019 was a very good year for our industry.”
What do you expect in 2020? “We are just in the early stages of this forced transition from pork to chicken. The worldwide demand for chicken meat will be even stronger in 2020 and there are only a few countries in the world that can cater to this demand. Let me be clear, Brazil cannot cover the extra demand all by itself but we are well placed to do our part. The US, EU, Thailand, Ukraine and Argentina will profit too. I always say, Brazil is not better than anyone – but no one is better than Brazil. Our industry is in very good shape with a perfect cli- mate to grow crops and birds, with eager integrations ready to step up their game. We expect Brazilian production to grow to 13 million tonnes at least in 2020. And, as far as I can judge, this is growth on demand, not on based on projections.”
Do you think this surge in demand will last? “It is, of course, difficult to predict the future. That said, we expect the swine fever crisis to have a positive effect on the demand for chicken for at least the next three to five years. It’s important for
the Brazilian poultry industry to realise that eventually pork production and demand will recover, at least to some extent. That is why I warn our members not to go ‘all in’ based on expectations alone. If the demand is there, we should produce, but not until then. My prognosis for the coming years is positive, I do see very promising signs, but in the end the market will tell us what to produce.”
Any warning signs on the horizon, in your opinion? “We are competitive, our products are high quality and the car- bon footprint is small. But, and there always is a ‘but’. Logistics is an issue and our Brazilian tax system is complicated and although the Bolsonaro government has promised that these hurdles will be overcome, it will take some time. Under our current leader- ship, and Brazil’s temporary presidency of the BRICS emerging countries organisation, we see that the Brazilian economy has started to grow for the first time in many years. However, that growth comes with increasing competition for the available workforce. As we are in a very labour-intensive business, a grow- ing economy will make poultry production more difficult and more expensive. This is why focusing on increasing production should never be the only focus. This has to go hand in hand with increasing efficiency and automation throughout the supply chain. In the long run, this will only fortify our position as the poultry producing powerhouse we are.”
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