Chile opens market to US duck meat

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture have finished negotiating the certificate language to export frozen and chilled poultry meat to include duck meat, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.
The USDA has already updated the Export Library to reflect the opening of this new market, and U.S. duck exporters have containers ready to go. U.S. exporters have been successfully exporting almost $40 million worth of chicken and turkey meant and products annually to Chile since 2008 and the addition of duck meat rounds out the selection, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service.

Chileans consider duck to be a gourmet product, and there is a small Chinese population that commonly eats duck meat. The Ministry of Agriculture has some small farmer programs to promote duck breeding for this niche market. According to the results of their experience and the market development since 2005, the demand can reach 60 tons a year, about $380,000, and almost all of the production is consumed at restaurants in Santiago, Chile. The recommendation is that U.S. duck exporters link with Chilean firms that target the retail market that is available to the average Chilean in order to best access the small market with growth potential.

China cultivates Z-type Beijing duck

The Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences has successfully cultivated a Z-type Beijing duck that possesses a high feed-turnover efficiency rate, low skin fat, good meat quality (including low meat fat) and a strong immune system, according to reports.
China is the world’s largest breeder of meat ducks; the stock of meat ducks in China was 1.525 billion in 2011, with 3.94 billion slaughtered, making up 80 percent of the global number of ducks sent to the slaughter. In addition, China’s duck market is significant; more than 3.5 billion ducks are consumed every year. However, because the local ducks are mostly high-fat type and have a low feed conversion ratio, none of them are suitable for processing food products. This causes many of China’s markets to turn to foreign companies for the fulfillment of their needs. For example, the British Cherry Valley Ducks Company produces 80 percent of ducks used in the Chinese market.
According to researcher Shui-sheng Hou, the Z-type duck’s birth may allow Chinese companies to more effectively compete with their foreign counterparts.

UK online supermarket Ocado drops foie gras

UK online supermarket Ocado has stopped selling foie gras.
Production of foie gras is banned in the UK, however, it is not illegal to sell it. The decision by Ocado follows in the steps of a number of other high profile retailers in the country and follows an approach from animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 

China duck breeder increases net income by 73% in 2010

China duck breeder Anhui Taiyang Poultry Co. Inc. has reported a 73% increase in net income ($4.3 million) for 2010 when compared to 2009 numbers ($2.5 million).
The company's revenue increased 44% from 2009's $28.9 million to 2010's $41.7 million. "Our revenue increase was primarily driven by the increase in our breeding unit revenue by 63% to $12.6 million and revenue in our feed unit to $13.9 million as compared to approximately $51,000 in 2009," said Wu Qiyou, CEO and chairman of the board of directors. "During the third and fourth quarters of 2010, the pricing of ducklings hit a historically high price of...approximately $1.18 per duckling. As a result, we found it more financially beneficial to explore options to sell our ducklings as opposed to raising the ducks to be used for the food unit of our business. Thereby, revenue in our food business was reduced while increasing the revenue generated through our breeding unit."
Anhui Taiyang's adjusted net income (non-GAAP) reached $7.1 million for 2010, adding $2.1 million in one-time stock-based compensation and a limit of $705,000 in professional service expenses related to becoming a publically traded company in November 2010.

US prepared duck exports up 16% from 2009

January to October U.S. prepared duck exports increased by 16% compared to 2009 numbers, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Canada is the leading importer of U.S. prepared duck meat, receiving 45% of exports, with Vietnam, Thailand, Ecuador and Suriname covering the majority of the remainder. Overall duck commodity exports were down 1% for the January-October 2010 period due to a decrease in frozen commodity duck exports that offset the 25% increase in frozen whole duck exports.
Overall U.S imports of duck increased by 96% in 2010, with the majority of products coming from Canada. In particular, imports of frozen cuts have increased 291% since 2009, and made up 72% of all U.S. duck imports for the January-October period.