Serbia: Poultry sector webinar on October 27

Poultry production has a long tradition in Serbia and has always been an important livestock sector, as well as the most represented branch of animal husbandry on Serbian farms. The Serbian poultry sector is in the process of professionalizing in order to cater to growing national demand for poultry meat and eggs and to make the most out of export markets. What opportunities does that pose for Dutch entrepreneurs in the poultry sector?

In order to identify potential business opportunities for Dutch poultry professionals in the Serbian poultry sector, the Netherlands Embassy commissioned a study providing a Poultry meat and egg production sector analysis in Serbia (rvo.nl). The main findings will be presented during a webinar taking place on Thursday, October 27, from 11:00 -12:30. Please register at Webinar: Zakelijke kansen pluimveesector Servië (rvo.nl) or via e-mail: BEL-LNV@minbuza.nl.

As highlighted in the study, Serbia has quite favorable conditions for poultry production, starting with the availability of agricultural land and also, sufficient field crop production. There are currently two poultry production systems that coexist in Serbia: traditional backyard production (for self-consumption and local green market sales) and commercial poultry. The latter is becoming increasingly dominant over time as the sector further professionalizes.

Over the last couple of years, poultry production accounted for about 12% of the total value of livestock production in Serbia, and 4-5 % of total agricultural production. In 2020, 115.000 tons of poultry meat and 1.71 billion table eggs were produced in Serbia. The average yearly consumption of eggs per capita in Serbia is high, and the average consumption of poultry meat is rising significantly. In this regard, per capita poultry meat consumption in 2020 was 17.6 kg, while per capita egg consumption was 12.6 kg, or 252 eggs.

One of the challenges the Serbian poultry sector is facing today is the fact that it is still rather segmented and generally lacks the level of chain integration required to become more profitable and sustainable. The Serbian Poultry Association, which was established 25 years ago and who will also be presenting during our webinar on 27 October, is currently undergoing structural changes in order to professionalize its operations and play a facilitating role in tackling the challenge of sector organization. It perceives both NEPLUVI as well as NVP as examples on which to model their structure and operations.

The study further shows that the number of commercial poultry farms are increasing since farmers are using various funding lines they have at their disposal to improve their operations. One particular catalyst for change in the sector are the so-called EU Instrument for Pre-Accession in Rural Development (IPARD) funds, but there is also national support available to raise the standards and level of production.

Serbian poultry farmers are aware that improving performance requires new production technologies, from starting with good genetic material (parent flocks) to improving of feed conversion. As exemplified in the study, feed prices represents the major impact on production costs. Since Serbia has a strict non-GMO policy, the resulting increased feed price translates into a 10% higher production costs when using soybean as feed ingredient. Finding alternative sources of proteins is therefore a must, that will significantly affect production competitiveness, concludes the study.

The main ambition of poultry producers of Serbia is to reach high production level of broiler chicks in order to start exporting, the main target market being the EU, which is already Serbia’s main trading partner (60% of total trade). This is why the production capacities of incubators and parent flocks has increased significantly in the last several years. Serbia’s Stabilisation and association agreement with the EU is instrumental in ramping up exports to the EU, as it allows preferential custom regimes for import/export of various products, including agriculture commodities.

The study also underlines that the wider region remains an important export market for Serbia’s poultry sector. 30% of total trade of the country is done with CEFTA countries and over the past two years, the Open Balkan initiative has deepened integration process of Western Balkan countries much to the benefit of trade in agricultural products as well.

To hear all about the business opportunities in the Serbian poultry sector identified in the study and the support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) when entering foreign markets, please sign up for our webinar on 27 October here or by sending an email to BEL-LNV@minbuza.nl.