South Africa imported almost 240,000 tonnes of mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDM) in 2024. More than 90% came from Brazil.
At first sight those figures might appear to strengthen the argument that South Africa is far too dependent on imported poultry and should be producing more of it at home. Yet in the case of MDM they demonstrate almost the opposite.
South Africa produces virtually no MDM commercially. This is not because Brazilian imports destroyed a once-thriving local MDM industry. Local poultry producers generally obtain greater value by selling the carcasses and offcuts from which MDM would be manufactured as soup packs and other products.
That makes commercial sense. But…
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