‘Master Plan’ a pot of gold for Rainbow

ROLE-PLAYERS in the poultry industry have been given something to crow about considering the recent gains made by one of the country’s best-known chicken producers.

After a low ebb near the end of 2016 when it was forced to cut a shift and retrench 1350 workers, Kwazulunatal-based Rainbow Chicken producer has bounced back. It reinstated the shift at its Hammarsdale operation and re-employed 750 of the workers who had been retrenched.

During its 60th birthday celebrations this week, the company announced it was on track to hire a further 100 workers at its “P2” plant by July.

Rainbow’s renaissance comes on the back of its investment of R220 million and additional funding of R400m from contract growers.

This enabled the company to overhaul its supply and production chain in KZN, which included enhancements and additions to its farms, hatchery operations and processing facilities.

Marthinus Stander, Rainbow’s managing director said: “At the heart of this achievement lies the essence of the ‘Poultry Sector Master Plan’ – a visionary blueprint encompassing facets such as investments, employment generation, poultry exports, and cultivation of contract growers.

Although the drought and bird flu were negative factors, Rainbow, like other producers in the poultry sector, was unable to match the prices at which “dumped chicken” was landing in South Africa. That’s when various stakeholders from the private and public sectors realised their industry needed new impetus and met to chart a way forward.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Department of Trade Industry and Competition facilitated the meeting. After months of introspection the “Poultry Master Plan” was hatched.

In November 2019, the stakeholders signed the agreement and the implementation of the plan began in 2020.

In spite of teething problems arising mainly out of the Covid-19 pandemic that surfaced in 2020, Rainbow’s success bears testament to the effectiveness of the Master Plan.

Stander said they were committed to it and also got assistance from the government.

He said Rainbow had previously produced 1.2m chicken per week, production halved by the end of 2017, but through adherence to the master

plan, their output grew back to 1.1m per week since April.

“Our next goal is 1.5m.”

Stander said re-employing a number of their past workers was great for the community of Hammarsdale.

Izaak Breitenbach, the general manager of SA Poultry Association, said Rainbow’s turnaround was important for the economic growth. He lauded the effectiveness of the Master Plan and appreciated that the plan was not Sapa’s but from the industry, including trade unions and importers.

Breitenbach believed the best move the government made was to tighten up imports.

“For 10 years up to 2019, this industry was not growing and the growth in per capita consumption was taken over by imports. Local production was replaced by imports. But the Master Plan has caused this trend to be reversed and reduced imports.”

He said nine countries were dumping

chicken in South Africa but as of August 3, anti-dumping duties were imposed against the US, Brazil, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Denmark and Spain.

“We are now competing on an equal footing with these countries. The International Trade Administration Commission found that the dumping by these countries caused material harm to the SA poultry industry.”

Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel said the government increased the tariffs on trade in 2020 in support of the local industry.

“In 2021, we defended SA when we were taken to arbitration by the EU by putting safeguard measures in place.”

Patel confirmed that the anti-dumping duty was made permanent and will apply for the next four years.

He said they also made a major breakthrough with Saudi Arabia.

“That market is now open for us,” he said.