Cautious consolidation on the market after a demand-driven period

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/12-2026.01

Dr. Attila Csorbai
president-director
Poultry Product Board

According to data from domestic slaughterhouses, in the first nine months of 2025 performance reached 99.2% in live weight and 98.5% in headcount, which is close to the 2024 level. The slight decline is primarily the result of the bird flu epidemic that began last fall and lasted until May 2025.

Veterinary health challenges

The sector’s performance was primarily affected by veterinary health issues, which proved to be a decisive factor at both European and global level. Poland, the continent’s largest producer, struggled with a severe outbreak of avian influenza and Newcastle disease.

“Our sector was also affected by geopolitical and trade policy decisions (such as customs tariffs), although the extent of this didn’t differ significantly from other areas of the food industry”,

commented Dr Attila Csorbai, president-director of the Poultry Product Board.

Market balance was gradually restored from late September, leading to the formation of a supply ma

No level playing field on the EU market

It is a serious shortcoming of EU regulations that trade agreements don’t stipulate: only products manufactured in accordance with EU legislation and standards may enter the internal markets of the community. This practice also entails a significant competitive disadvantage in the case of poultry products, as hundreds of thousands of tonnes of meat arrive from countries where animal welfare, veterinary health and food safety conditions don’t comply with EU standards. The sector has always been at the forefront of adapting new technologies, applying digitalisation and robotics. “The future looks bright for poultry products. How bright that future will be depends on two things. One is the extent to which European policy will be able to ensure a level playing field for its own producers/products, and the other is how it shapes and changes its own regulatory framework”, concluded the president-director of the Poultry Product Board.