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They\u2019re ubiquitous on dim sum restaurant menus, and a popular street food snack, but a surge in chicken feet prices is threatening to put them out of the reach of many Chinese consumers.<\/p>\n
Wholesale prices of the delicacy have jumped around 10% since Brazil<\/a>\u00a0halted chicken exports<\/a> to China over the weekend following an outbreak of Newcastle virus, according to Qinbaowang, a food industry website. While China produces chicken<\/a> feet, a waste product in many countries, it\u2019s heavily reliant on supply from overseas. It imported around $2.3 billion worth last year, with more than 40% coming from Brazil.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prices of the poultry product are up by around a third since the beginning of 2022, according to data from the website of\u00a0Xinfadi<\/a>, an agricultural market in Beijing. Chicken feet are now more than twice as costly as wholesale prices of regular bird meat.<\/p>\n The growing popularity of the savory treat \u2013 which has become a popular item in hotpot and noodle restaurants \u2014 is one reason why they\u2019re becoming so expensive. Chefs have also developed new varieties, such as tiger skin fried chicken feet or lemon-flavored boneless ones, and they\u2019re also rich in skin-enhancing collagen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chain outlets specializing in chicken feet have sprouted up across China in recent years, and producers of semi-cooked food have started to supply them to meet surging demand from the catering industry, according to\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0in local media. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Brazilian ban is the latest example of the kind of supply shock, which has also helped push up prices in recent years. Bird flu outbreaks around the world contributed to a 20% drop in Chinese imports last year, followed by a 25% decline in the first half of 2024, customs data show.<\/p>\n The growing popularity of chicken feet has meant that \u2014 so far at least \u2014 they\u2019ve been able to buck the trend of consumers in China \u2013 hit by a worsening economic downturn \u2014 foregoing more expensive foods. But the Brazilian ban could be the final straw, with\u00a0local media reports<\/a>\u00a0and social media showing people complaining about their unaffordability.<\/p>\n Much will depend on whether Brazil is able to quickly contain the virus outbreak. The country is the biggest supplier of all chicken products to China, accounting for around 60% of imports in the first half of 2024. About a fifth of that was chicken feet.<\/p>\n From luxury brands<\/a>\u00a0to car makers, European companies are taking a hit from China\u2019s slowdown, and more trouble is coming for businesses heavily reliant on demand in the Asian economic giant.<\/p>\n China\u2019s Third Plenum delivered an ambitious roadmap for making high-tech industries a key growth driver, says Bloomberg Economics. But the key question is how well these bold sectoral reforms will work in the context of a broader economy that is less flexible.<\/p>\n China\u2019s use of gas in 2024 will likely grow at a similar pace as last year on expectations of ample global supply and improving domestic demand, the National Energy Administration said in an annual market report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOn the Wire<\/h2>\n
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