Charoen Pokphand Foods anticipates no threat from bird flu in China

Thai food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) has announced that it foresees no threat from the bird flu outbreak in China.

Recently, the Chinese Government has issued an order to cull thousands of chickens in Shaoyang city after an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in Hunan province.

As a pre-emptive measure, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that it has culled around 18,000 chickens.

CPF CEO Prasit Boondoungprasert said: “China has dealt with bird flu epidemic for more than ten years and the Chinese government sits on deep experience.

“Vaccination has been allowed while other preventive measures are in place, aside from international-standard elimination of dead birds. All result in effective disease prevention.

He added that the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu has not impacted the sales of its chicken products to China. These sales account for 2% of the company’s total sales.

CPF said that it will continue to maintain 2020 sales targets. It also said that it believes that the Chinese government can resolve the bird flu issue.

Boondoungprasert said: “Opportunities for chicken meat exports from Thailand to China remain huge, thanks to the continuous increase in demand.

“In 2019, Thailand exported 70,000t of chicken meat to China and the volume is expected to jump to 150,000t in 2020 as more Thai chicken processing plants are expecting licenses.

“Meanwhile, China is putting more emphasis on the improvement of its food industry following the epidemic, to promise its citizens greater food security and safety.”