KEY POINTS:
Chicken is not going cheap. Over the past 14 months the bird has soared - sending the price of what has been the most economical of meats a far from paltry 24 per cent higher in many supermarkets, and forcing some restaurants to re-price their menus.
Once considered a family dinner staple, chicken has moved up the pecking order to reach almost $23 a kilogram in recent weeks, thanks to international grain prices. And the poultry industry says the rises will continue until at least the end of the year.
Boneless, skinless chicken breast is $21.99/kg at Countdown, Woolworths, Freshchoice and Foodtown, and at New World in Auckland's Remuera it's going for $22.99/kg. At Pak 'N Save the same product was on special at $12.89/kg, down from $17.49/kg.
Foodstuffs general manager of retail, Mark Baker, said chicken had been "massively" affected by worldwide grain price rises. He said the regular pricing on poultry products had increased 13 per cent in the past year.
Brett Ashley, general manager, fresh food at Progressive Enterprises, told the Herald on Sunday the cost price of chicken had jumped 24.5 per cent in 14 months.
He agreed the rises were due to the increased price of grain.
"Seventy-five per cent of the price of a chicken is made up of the feed cost, resulting directly in an increase in the cost price to us."
However, he said the entire price hike had not been "automatically" passed on to consumers.
For example, while in July last year a size 22 Signature Range whole frozen chicken was $11.50 from Woolworths in Wellington, yesterday it was $12.36.
Restaurant Association chief executive Alistair Rowe said while chicken had traditionally been "one of the cheaper meats", restaurant diners could now expect the price of their favourite dish to rise.
Restaurateur Nicola Richards, of Auckland's Monsoon Poon, said chefs were having to come up with inventive solutions to absorb chicken price rises.
"We are looking at the structure of our menu, and restructuring dishes so there are different ingredient combinations - it's a test of the chef's skill."
Prices of some dishes, including chicken-based meals had gone up late last year, she said, but only by about a dollar.
Michael Brooks, of the Poultry Industry Association, said poultry price hikes were global. They were linked to the soaring world prices for grain, rice and oil and were out of the industry's control.
The association was predicting grain prices would continue to rise in the short term, but Brooks hoped there could be some relief early next year.
The Australian drought was a major factor in forcing up the price of supermarket chickens, as had the worldwide demand for biofuels, which had driven up grain prices.
But chicken was still a good buy, he said. "It's more expensive than 12 months ago, but remains great value for money," Brooks said.
