Chapter 2: Literature Review

Exploring the factors impacting on the brand loyalty among households. A case study of the broiler
chicken industry in Mauritius

Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty is a vital concept in strategic marketing. It is commonly known as an asset (Aaker 1984,
p. 140), as it helps to boost pricing flexibility (Staudt, Taylor and Bowersox 1976, pp. 140-141). Some
debates have been opened over the scope of the phenomenon, but the consent is clear that loyalty
is a concept of very high importance (Jacoby and Chestnut 1978). Given this, it is not unusual that a
large amount of literature about consumer behavior is concerned with the foundations of loyalty
and the mechanisms through which it comes about (Kuehn 1962 is an early such paper). Likewise,
there is literature of market level, on how an organisation, mainly through advertising, can generate
and foster brand loyalty (see, e.g., Day 1984, p. 105). And yet, at the market degree, the keystone in
the knowledge of researchers is missing. The meekest concept and most elementary issue is: "How
can a company exploit brand loyalty once it possesses it?". The latter is not answered in the
literature. The signification of brand loyalty for such firms is evidently very dissimilar than that for
organisations facing opponents and rivals. The aim of this research is to examine the types of brand
loyalty among households in Mauritius and how the choice of broiler chicken is affected accordingly.
More explicitly, one category of brand loyalty is due to the lack in awareness and the time taken to
come across a particular brand of broiler chicken. The other may be due to the switching cost. Brand
loyalty of the first category is called "cost-based” and brand loyalty of the second type is known as
"inertial". Inertial brand loyalty refers to the situation where customers in a particular tier stick
around as it’s too troublesome to escape. With this type of loyalty regulars have no incentive to stick
to their habitual seller as soon as a competitor makes it easy to shift.

A safe conclusion can be made that there are somewhat widespread variations in loyalty among
individuals and that brand loyalty is, in fragment a purpose of the regularity and frequency with
which a brand has been carefully chosen previously and, on another part, of the kind of product
involved. According to W. T. Tucker, if there are two fruit drinks offered to an individual a number of
times, the degree of brand loyalty can be quantified in terms of the relative frequency with which he
selects one brand rather than the other. If he selects Ceres rather than Topicana, (and both are
similarly available) he may be said to be brand loyal if the time to influence the statistically cultured
consumer that the variance in frequency is not because of chance. The loyalty can be categorized in
subcategories of characteristics: the sweetness of the drink, the shape of the bottle the brand name,
the colors on the cap, or whatever. If Tropicana made available different size bottles, where larger
containers were accessible. This might change his choice so and he would subsequently choose
Tropicana more frequently than Ceres. It is appealing to suggest that the consumer was never truly
brand loyal to Ceres at all, but simply preferred a larger drink. But skeptical thoughts arises in this
situation. Assuming, for instance, that the Ceres formula or drink is next placed in the Tropicana
bottle capped with the white Ceres cap and the Ceres is placed in the clear and transparent bottle
with a Tropicana cap-and that the individual shifts back to Ceres. What becomes of brand loyalty? As
a matter of fact, brand loyalty is, at all times, a biased retort to some amalgamation of
characteristics. This technique of viewing brand loyalty might not be congenial, but a similar way
can be adopted and may be required either for research on the nature of practical questions
concerning variations in packaging, advertising, product or even brand loyalty. (W. T. Tucker 1964)
Households and Brand loyalty
Past experimental studies of buyer behavior supported the hypothesis that brand choice is a non-
order procedure whereby purchase occasions are equally independent and family circle immediately
regress back to their preceding brand choice (Bass 1993; Bass, Givon, Kalwani, Reibstein, and Wright
1984; Bawa and Shoemaker 1987; Davis, Inman, and McAlister 1992). Studies have also lean towards
the supposition to show that features and displays have a much minor impact than price on the
purchase decision (Blattberg and Neslin 1990, p. 355; Bucklin and Lattin 1991; Gupta 1988; Kumar
and Leone 1988; Tellis 1988) and have swervingly found levels of distinguishable households with
diverse sensitivities to marketing variables such as feature advertisement and displays (Peter J. Lenk
et al 1995)

Stigler's approach to the economics of information has been pragmatic to the "brand loyalty"
phenomenon by Farley and Frank, Douglas, and Polli. The latter reason that the less time and effort
a household puts into search (e.g., due to high cost of time), the further brand loyal it will be. The
household will explore less among brands for a lower cost. However, the observed results for
grocery products regarding the results of income, imply the contrary. Farley did deliver a rational
enlightenment for the illogicality by suggesting that income also aids as a delegation for education,
the outcome of which is supposed to upsurge proficiency and, therefore, search activities.However,
in the case of Polli, Douglas and Frank, the result seemed to be attained although the fact that
achievement in the educational field is held constant. (Shmuel Sharir 1974)

The degree of how family loyalty to brands is interrelated over products has significant
consequences for the design of research intended at predicting and understanding household
purchasing behavior. The presence of a propensity for the same household to be loyal athwart many
goods at a point in time infers that the determining factor of brand loyalty are wide-ranging as
contrasted to situation-specific household characteristics. General features are those which have
little or no connection with either shopper behavior or attitude toward the product being analysed
and looked into, such as character, demographic and socio- economic characteristics. Dissimilarly,
situation-specific domiciliary characteristics are those unswervingly related to the product under
examination. For example, if one were studying loyalty to broiler chicken brands, situation-specific
characteristics might include customer's attitude toward the product and the number of brands of
broiler chicken available in stores visited by the customer. (Y.Wind et al 1969)

Factors affecting brand loyalty

The anticipated gain connected with searching (given that the brands in a product class are
considered as close substitutes) should be empirically correlated with the quantity procured by the
buyer. The prime reason for inquiring in this milieu would be to find lower prices. Thus, an individual
would foresee heavy and regular buyers to purchase at reduced prices than their lighter
complements, and therefore suggested reasons are that:

-If brand preferences are not strong, then it will be expected that heavy buyers will be, to some
extent less brand loyal than light buyers;

-High-income households would display further brand loyalty because they were confronted with a
greater occasion loss for time disbursed searching; and
-At a certain income level, large households would be less brand loyal than small households
because large ones would have to use a certain dollar of salary more resourcefully to sustain the
similar standard of living.

-Based on Stigler's theory, it would also seem rational to theorize that family circle with a higher-
than-average level of car proprietorship (at a given income level) might be likely to be less brand
loyal, as car ownership is apposite to be empirically related with the amount of stores in which the
household does its shopping, given that a family owns a car or more, the opportunity cost of
searching may be, to a certain degree, reduced

-With working spouses, they will lean towards the exhibition of a higher degree of brand loyalty than
those who are not employed, provided that one, maintain age of children and family size constant
(likely that employment should lessen the time existing for searching);

-With housewives with quite little formal education may be more brand loyal (education may be
related with both skills and interest with respect to probing for changes, such as those in deals,
prices, etc.);

-With non-white individuals, they might be more brand loyal than their white correspondents
because non- whites have a tendency to reside in areas where the possible payoff from product
search is constrained, due to a comparative nonappearance of modern chain stores and therefore
scarcer substitute brands and conceivably due to a lower rate of service in terms of retailers'
readiness to accept the return of disappointing stock of goods. (Ronald E. Frank et al 1968)

Cognitive Consequences of Brand Loyalty

Consistency theory forecasts were as derivatives related to attitude edifice associated with
commitment (brand loyalty). Product re-assessment was seen, in part, as the outcome of a shopper's
desire to re- structure his views so as to dodge cognitive quandaries instigated by competing
products alleged as meeting the same product purpose equally fine. Dissonance theory has proven
to be a treasured source of hypotheses and acumens apropos variables, that are essential in the
process of decision making. It is particularly useful in interconnecting pre- and post-decision
procedures and stipulating differences in states of mind, behaviour and goals between these two
phases. The various implications of the theory for customer decision making should be established
and tested, preferably against several models that have been previously done. If a customer has
acquire as much satisfaction as he rationally anticipated from a brand (relative to those product
characteristics he has considered important), brand switching allows few enticement other than the
value of innovation itself. When the anticipated value of further learning-and therefore objective
data processing and product assessment is low, the most gratifying and simplest sequence of action
may be a positive review of one's decision. One method of achieving this is by reassessing the
chosen brand more carefully and favourably and the unchosen brand with less attention. For
example, according to Joel B. Cohen and Michael J. Houston Toothpaste may be a thought-provoking
product to study in this respect. The two principal brands, Aquafresh and Colgate, had grounded
much of their product and advertising policy upon the identical product advantage-deterrence of
tooth decay. Both laid emphasis on fluoride content, and at the time of this research were the only
two brands authorized by the American Dental Association's Council on Dental Therapeutics. If a
customer were to take in mind the selection, mainly on this product advantage, a choice between
Aquafresh and Colgate might be indistinct. Succeeding his satisfactory usage of either one, positive
reconsideration of the chosen brand together with negative re- evaluation of the unchosen brand
would aid him circumvent any hesitancy or conflict among these brands in upcoming decision
making. Consequently, it was hypothesized that brand-loyal customers of either Colgate or
Aquafresh would observe greater variances in the degree to which each possessed desired traits
than would those loyal to other brands. The anticipated value of continual learning compared to
decision explanation is likely to be sensitive to the degree that brand use has not been satisfactory. A
consistency theory forecast would hold only if the customer were interested enough in vindicating
his preceding decision to himself or others to make decision explanation a considerable motivating
power. But with practical brand satisfaction, few clashes exist between decision justification
impartial and information processing. By using the latter, one can alter the act of purchasing
toothpaste from a problem-solving decision to one of habit, in that way, get rid of a cognitive
dilemma and acquiring some additional time to deal with other more significant snags. (Joel B.
Cohen et al 1972). The same theories and reasoning can be applied to the research of brand loyalty
in households, with respect to broiler chicken. The hypotheses and explanation can be used to
explain certain type and causes of brand loyalty and brand switching.

The broiler chicken industry

As agribusiness organizational structures spread around Europe, it also became apparent that there
were differences between countries' industrializing food supply systems.8 These differences in
organizational structures in turn influenced the positions adopted by different EEC nations in policy
debates. Understanding the origins and development of agribusiness in Europe may therefore
contribute to a better appreciation of both the evolution of food systems within Europe and their
relationship with the policy debates and controversies in European agriculture over the past half
century. The origins of this organizational innovation in the United States can be traced to dairying
and fruit growing. But this article follows Geoffrey Sykes' observation that the birth of agribusiness in
Europe was associated with the diffusion of the broiler chicken. The article presents new data on the
emergence and growth of the leading European poultry industries after 1945, and shows that those
countries where poultry output grew most quickly - especially the UK, Italy and Spain - were also the
countries where the agricultural sectors adopted both US technologies (like the Cobb broiler
chicken) and US agribusiness organizational structures most vigorously. Elsewhere in Europe, where
co-operatives remained influential, or where central wholesale markets remained important as
clearing houses, poultry output grew much less quickly. The article suggests therefore that the
diffusion of the agribusiness type of organization of agriculture and the increase in poultry output
were, as Sykes claimed was the case for the UK, deeply entwined across Europe, with potentially
important consequences for the different roles and impacts of agribusiness across European nations.
In Section I, the article returns to Khrushchev marveling at the Cobb broiler chicken in Moscow in
May, 1964. While the Soviet poultry industry was then the largest in Europe by some distance, it had
been dramatically overtaken by the US poultry sector, with its novel broiler chicken breeds, during
the 1950s. Section II is a data-driven exercise in identifying the exact periods that broiler chicken
output began to take off in Western Europe. This is then followed by a discussion of the different
institutional paths taken by the emerging poultry industry centres of Europe, contrasting the British
agribusiness model (in Section III) with the cooperative association models that remained so
influential in northern Europe (Section IV) but which saw only relatively slow growth in poultry
output, before going on to consider (in Section V) a group of countries that moved from very
traditional farming to agribusiness systems in poultry very quickly - it was these economies that
went on to become Western Europe's leading centres for poultry industry output by 1973. Section VI
concludes the article with a discussion and suggestions. ultry farming. Poultry farming on any scale is
dependent on animal feeds, and the Soviet agricultural model was increasingly unable to deliver the
necessary surpluses over human grain consumption required for animal feed to remain cheap. USSR
feed costs were estimated to be more than 50 per cent higher than in the US in the late 1950s and
early 1960s.12 Moreover, dual-purpose chickens took much longer to reach slaughter weight than
the increasingly efficient US broilers.13 More expensive feed fed to birds for a longer period added
up to Soviet poultry meat prices in i960 being estimated as five times higher than in the US.14 When
Khrushchev focused on what to him seemed the remarkable feed conversion ratio of the Cobb
broiler chicken, of around two pounds of feed required to produce each pound of poultry meat, it
reflected his acute awareness of the vulnerability of the Soviet agricultural system to increasingly
perilous grain output. From an American perspective, however, the irony of Khrushchev latching on
to the Cobb broiler was undoubtedly that other breeds were even more productive and commer-
cially successful during the 1950s.15 These included Vantress, Hubbard, Arbor Acres and, of
particular importance for the emerging European poultry industries, Nichols.16 Nichols strains
delivered such superior feed conversion ratios that they priced competing strains out of the market.
With feed costs forming 60 to 70 per cent of the total costs of rearing birds, the feed conversion rate
was the single most important indicator of commercial viability. Nichols birds also had low mortality
rates and, critically, produced meat that European consumers were increasingly happy to eat, as can
be inferred from Table 1.17 Nichols distributed its birds across Western Europe through its two
European subsidiaries, Chunky Chicks (Nichols), located just outside Edinburgh, and Nichols
Lohrmann of Cuxhaven, near Hamburg, West Germany, and several franchisees. d again after its
1964 crisis). Table 1 also shows how poultry output began to increase rapidly in the late 1950s and
1960s in all West European countries. Some countries, notably the UK, Italy and Spain, saw their
poultry sectors grow from very small beginnings to become European leaders by 1973. By contrast
French output, initially the largest in Western Europe by some distance, suffered a sharp collapse in
the mid- to late-i96os, only exceeding its 1965 output by 1972. Finally it is worth noting that several
countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, all began with
established poultry sectors in the 1950s but experienced only relatively slow growth (or even
decline) in output over the period. By 1973 the leading poultry meat producers in Western Europe
were Italy, France, Spain and the UK, the production of which, in aggregate, exceeded the output
from the Soviet industry. While Table 1 gives a clear picture of broiler chicken output in Europe by
1973, making any similar inferences about the late 1950s and early 1960s may be problematic. Partly
this is because statistics of poultry output before the early 1960s were only haphazardly collected
across Europe.18 But mostly it is because of the inability to disaggregate the new meat-producing
broilers from the traditional table poultry output within these figures, at least until the broiler flocks
became utterly dominant everywhere after, say, 1964 or 1965. Before the late-i950S, the European
poultry population was overwhelmingly a population of egg-laying, not meat-producing, birds. Meat
production was a by-product of the egg business. The additional income received for chicken meat
from spent layers and redundant cockerels was not insignificant, and had the effect of subsidizing
egg prices somewhat.19 But in Western Europe until the late 1950s the specialized meat-producing
sector was very small. Instead European poultry farmers overwhelmingly focused on these dual-
purpose birds and so followed what the OECD described as 'traditional' poultry-farming methods.20
Specialist chicken meat production was confined to smallholders in a few regions (notably in
southern England, France and Italy) where chicken cramming was a traditional trade.21 The
imperative to adopt agribusiness organizational structures only arrived with broilers. The very first
broilers introduced to Europe were a small number of Nichols birds brought into Scotland by Rupert
Chalmers Watson (of Chunky Chicks) in 1949. Numbers remained trivially small until the mid-1950s,
when broiler growing began to increase in the UK, followed then by experiments in Netherlands,
Germany, Scandinavia and Italy. The increase in thesecountries' poultry populations from the late
1950s, was almost entirely attributable to the growth in broiler chickens, not dual-purpose birds, nor
specialist egg-laying birds, and so was associated with the first attempts to adopt US technologies
and organizational structures. While there was considerable experimentation with local strains,
increasingly from the late 1950s, these additional meat-producing flocks were stocked with US
broiler strains.22 As far as interpreting Table 1 is concerned, this means that the share of each
country's poultry population that was composed of broilers was growing from a very small base, but
at different rates and different start dates in the late 1950s. Table 1 above is therefore an
incomplete guide to identifying where poultry-related agribusiness emerged first in Europe. For that
we need to identify the growth of the broiler populations in these countries more carefully. Table 2
presents what are very imperfect data, but are nevertheless the best estimates available of the
broiler populations in the leading West European centres from 1956 to 1963. This shows that the
economies that led Europe into broiler production were the UK.

Broiler chicken consumption

It was not until 1934 that the United States Department of Agriculture first enumerated broiler
chicken production separately from other chickens sold for meat. (1 ) Between 1934 and 1968
United States production in- creased from 34 million to 2,599 million broilers. (2 ) The objectives of
this paper are to suggest some of the factors which have contributed to the large increment in the
consumption of chicken meat and the corresponding growth of the broiler industry, to examine
changes in the spatial distribution of production, and to assess some of the determinants of the
locational pat- tern of the industry. CONSUMPTION FACTORS. An increase in the consumption of a
product normally is the result of population increments and/or increases in the rate, per capita, at
which it is consumed. Population increments in the United States since the 1930,s have not been of
sufficient magnitude to account for the large increase in the consumption of broilers. Between 1939
and 1964 United States population increased by 46 percent whereas the number of chickens sold
increased by slightly more than 600 percent. (3) Therefore, it is clear that the major portion of the
increase in the total consumption of broilers has resulted from a large increase in per capita
consumption. Per capita consumptions of chicken and other types of meat since 1910 are indicated
in Table 1. Per capita consumption of chicken meat in- creased from 15.5 pounds in 1910 to 37.1
pounds in 1968. No other type of meat has experienced a comparable per capita increase. Per capita
con- sumption of chicken increased by 140 percent during the period, compared to an increase of 46
percent for beef and veal. Pork consumption increased only slightly whereas the consumption of
lamb and mutton actually declined. A number of factors appear to have influenced the expansion in
con- sumption of chickens since 1930. Larger incomes have made chicken meat more readily
available to millions of United States households (Table 2). During the 1920's and 1930's chicken
meat was considered a delicacy. Chicken was available primarily on a seasonal basis, principally
during the summer months as a result of the "spring hatch." The levels of disposable income in the
1920's and 1930's, along with the periodic shortages of chicken meat and its price level in relation to
red meats, helped to con- tribute to its relatively small volume of consumption.

Probably the single most important factor which has affected the in- crease in per capita
consumption has been the price of chicken meat in relation to the price of red meat (Table 3). The
1935 retail price levels for chicken and beef were similar. Since 1950 the prices of these two meats
have exhibited divergent trends. As is true for many items, beef prices have generally increased
during the last few decades. However, chicken prices generally have declined since 1950, decreasing
from an average of 57.0 cents per pound in 1950 to 39.0 cents in 1965. This price situation has
helped to make the broiler a popular food item in comparison to other, more expensive meats.
Should the trend toward an increasingly larger re- tail price spread between chicken and red meats
continue, chicken meat should assume an even more favorable competitive position. In conjunction
with the favorable price of chicken meat, it should be noted that retail food stores frequently use
the broiler as a price leader and a major sale item. Such techniques have served to promote the sale
of broilers and therefore to increase their consumption. During the late 1960 it was not uncommon
for fresh, whole broilers to sell in supermarkets at prices ranging from 25 cents to 30 cents per
pound. The wholesale truckload de- livered price of ice-packed broilers to United States cities
commonly ranged from 25 cents to 32 cents per pound in 1969. (4) At such prices little profit (if any)
is made by the retailer. Compensatory profits are made when cut- up fryer chickens or special
chicken parts are sold. Additional factors have been of some significance in the increase in the
consumption of broiler meat and the development of a large scale United States broiler industry.
Also contributing to increased broiler consumption during the 1950's and 1960's has been the
emergence of numerous "carry-out" or "take-out" fried chicken outlets throughout the United
States. These outlets have made available a standardized, high-quality and widely distributed
product at a modest price. The recent proliferation of these facilities on the landscape has been
hastened by the popularity of chicken meat among the consuming populous. Such outlets are by no
means an insignificant source of broiler meat sales. It has been estimated by the United States
Department of Agriculture that, in 1969, the takeout chicken market was buying about 16 percent of
United States broiler production. One takeout firm alone buys approximately eight percent of
production. (6) Some of the growth in the market also may be attributed to merchandising efforts of
broiler industry firms. These firms have created an image of a good, high-quality and dependable
product which, along with its ease of prepara- tion, makes it a popular item with the American
housewife. Considerable sums of money have been spent by the broiler industry in the development
of the image of their product. Whereas the factors noted above are related to the increase in the
con- sumption of chicken meat, one must look at the supply side of the industry in order to identify
the factors underlying the price trend which has been characteristic of broilers. The expanded supply
of broiler meat at a pro- gressively lower cost has been possible because of important technological
developments and operational changes in the industry. A major portion of the reduction in
production costs has not resulted from lower input prices for broiler production. Prices for feed
rations have decreased only slightly in the last two decades. The two major ingredients in the feed
ration are corn and soybean meal, accounting for approximately 60 and 20 percent, by weight, of
the ration respectively. (7) A decline in the price of corn between 1950 and 1965 has been partially
offset by an increase in the price of soy- bean meal during the period. Production cost reductions
have resulted primarily from technological innovations and changes in the scale of operations which
have, in turn, revolutionized production methods. The breeding of superior strains of meat-type
broilers, the development of better feed rations, and the discovery of various drugs to control
diseases have all contributed to lower production costs. The effect of these three innovations is
reflected particularly in feed conversion ratios, in which major improvements have been made since
the early days of the industry. The amount of feed necessary to produce one pound of broiler meat
has been cut almost in half since 1940, decreasing from 4.22 pounds to 2.31 pounds in 1969 (Table
4). In addition, more ef- ficient design of broiler houses, mechanization of feeding, and the
economies of larger production units have resulted in increased efficiency of labor utilization during
the growout period. A study by the Packers and Stockyards Administration indicated that the labor
required to produce broilers de- clined from 250 hours per 1000 birds in 1940 to 26 hours in 1965

The broiler chicken industry and consumption in Mauritius

The Republic of Mauritius has been self-sufficient in poultry meat and eggs for more than two
decades and has been successfully meeting the increasing demand for these commodities. About
85% of the poultry meat is presently produced by four industrial farms, 10% by small commercial
producers, and around 5% by family (backyard) poultry farms. The flourishing broiler production
industry has transformed the erstwhile important traditional backyard poultry farming of indigenous
chickens into an insignificant side activity on the main island of Mauritius, while on the other hand,
scavenging chickens continue to be an important source of both food and income on Rodrigues, the
second biggest island territory of the Republic. A survey carried out on 30 selected family poultry
farms in Mauritius and Rodrigues in 1999 and 2000 enabled the identification of the major problems
faced by smallholder poultry farmers. At the same time the results provided a basis for future
interventions for improving family poultry production. The results showed that diseases like fowl
pox, Newcastle disease, Gumboro disease, respiratory and parasitic diseases occurred all year round
on 42% and 82% of farms in Mauritius and Rodrigues, respectively. Low to mild helminth and lice
infestations were detected on 40% and 50% of the farms in Mauritius and Rodrigues, respectively. 1.
INTRODUCTION The Republic of Mauritius comprises two main islands, Mauritius with a population
of 1.2 million and Rodrigues with a population of 35 000, situated 595 km apart. In Mauritius a shift
of both entrepreneurship and of labour has occurred from the livestock sector to more attractive
and faster developing sectors such as textiles, manufacturing goods and tourism, which have
competed with the sugar production sector during the past decades. Thus, a drastic decrease in milk
and meat production has occurred in Mauritius. The local milk and meat production accounts for 5%
and 10%, respectively, of the total national requirements at present. On the other hand, the
economy of Rodrigues is still dependent on livestock farming and fishing. However, the country has
been self-sufficient in poultry meat and eggs for the past few decades. The production of poultry
meat has risen from 7800 tons in 1988 to 21 000 tons in 1998 and has kept pace with the increasing
demand of this commodity. Poultry meat accounts for over 50% of the total meat consumption and
it is expected to be 60% by the year 2020. The per capita poultry meat consumption is calculated to
be at present 18 kg/per year. About 85% of the total poultry meat is produced by 4 industrial broiler
farms. The remaining 15% is produced by small commercial producers and backyard indigenous
poultry. It is estimated that around 1000 farmers are involved in backyard family poultry production
in Mauritius, and around 4000 in Rodrigues. On the island of Rodrigues all farmers rear indigenous
scavenging chickens, which are known as the ‘local’ breed, presumably a mixture of Rhode Island
Red, Australorp and Naked neck breeds introduced on the islands two to three centuries ago by
early settlers. Backyard poultry is no longer considered to be of economic importance on Mauritius,
whereas in Rodrigues it constitutes an important source of both food and income. Almost all
Rodrigues families rear a few to hundreds of scavenging chickens, and Rodrigues exports around 25
000 of these birds live to Mauritius every year. The birds fetch a high price, are considered to be very
tasty and have always been in high demand. Being a side activity, family poultry farming has not
attracted interest with regard to improving husbandry practices and, therefore, no measures have
been taken to prevent and control diseases. Disease outbreaks due to Newcastle disease, parasitic
infestations, Fowl pox, Gumboro and other diseases, coupled with weather hazards such as cyclones,
have affected adversely family poultry over the years. A Newcastle disease eradication programme,
which has been on-going for several years in Rodrigues by the Veterinary Services through free
distribution of V4 wet vaccine to farmers, has not met its objective due to insufficient distribution
and extension services. 66 V.S. Jugessur and M.M. Seenevassen Pillay Family poultry has survived
outbreaks of Newcastle disease and farmers have shown interest in continuing with the farming of
scavenging birds. A survey has been carried out on family poultry production in Mauritius and
Rodrigues on 15 selected smallholder farms on each island, in the dry (winter) season of 1999 and in
the wet (summer) season of 2000, with the purpose of obtaining baseline production data. This
information would enable the identification of the problems and prospects in this sub-sector, and
would provide a basis for proposing future interventions for improvement of poultry productivity
and thereby enhancing food security.

The production of poultry was 49,000 tonnes in 2018 compared to 47,500 tonnes in 2017.(Statistic
Mauritius 2018)

Brief assessment of the food sector in Mauritius Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean with a
total land area of some 2,040 km2 and a population of 1.2 million. The three mainstays of the
economy are sugar production (which accounts for 90% of the total arable land), textiles and high‐
end tourism (which attracts over 750,000 visitors per year). Agriculture has shown a downward
trend in the last six years due to trade liberalization and rising labor costs keeping Mauritius a net
food importing country. Live animals and meat constitute two of the commodities excluded from
import restrictions under the liberalization policy. The population consists mainly of Hindus, Muslims
and some Christians. All meat imports have to comply with Halal requirements. According to the
Ministry of Agro Industry, ‘net food requirement is estimated at 690,000 tons annually, up to 75% of
which is made up of agricultural and food products imports. These peaked at some Rs1 23.4 billion in
2007, indicating a high level of trade dependency. Crop derived foodstuffs accounted for Rs 9,300
million (mainly rice and flour) while animal food items (including slaughter stock) amounted to Rs
7,100 million.’ On a net basis, food import costs have risen during the period 2001/2007 from Rs 8.4
billion to Rs 21.0 billion due to a remarkable increase in the import of processed food items
(including processed vegetables). 1 $1 US = 26 Rs (Rupees) The share of processed food in the
household diet is reported to match that of developed nations. This trend is on the increase.  
Livestock production, including the poultry sector, is carried out by some 3,500 small breeders and
around 100 medium to large producers. Production averaging 46,000 tons annually stays mainly in
the domestic market. Some 38,300 tons of meat and poultry (including venison) with a gross value of
RS 800 million were produced in 2007 on some 700 ha of land. Local production (excluding poultry)
accounts for around 5% of meat requirements and for 2% of milk requirements. The country is self
sufficient in poultry and eggs (almost 100%)2, but this sector relies almost entirely on imported raw
materials (approximately, 145,300 tons annually) or 80% of total feed requirements. The country is
also self‐sufficient in venison 90% of which is produced through intensive deer farming with an
estimated national herd of some 70,000. These are reared mainly in feedlots. Mauritius historically
has secured its food supply mostly through sugar production which has generated enough foreign
currency to more than cover the import of most of its food requirements. However, changing
circumstances (rising food import bills, the uncertainty of guaranteed European and US markets
because of new WTO rules) are increasing the vulnerability of Mauritius as a food importing country.
Sugar export is estimated to drop by 36% next year, and the government is encouraging people to
diversify with a new strategy for ‘A Sustainable Diversified Agri‐Food Sector’ for the period 2008 –
2015. The livestock sub‐sector of this strategy is aimed at increasing self‐sufficiency in milk
production from 2 to 10% and in meat production as follows.

Consumption patterns Nearly 70% of the meat consumed in Mauritius is poultry due to affordability.
High beef prices in the supermarkets (between $14 and $20 per kg) are increasingly pushing the
population to shift to buffalo meat. Chilled meat is served only in upscale hotels. Meat from
Madagascar and South Africa and lamb from Australia are much preferred. Meat from slaughter
stock is sold through traditional butcheries and purchased mainly by Muslims that do not trust the
Halal compliance of imported frozen meat. Meat from Kenyan stocks is sold through traditional
butcheries with no labels. Meat cuts sold in the supermarkets are required by law to display the
source country.  
Figure- (Indexmundi 2019)

The Republic of Mauritius had a population of 1,157,789 in the year 2000, with some 45 % of it being
in urban areas and a population growth rate of 1.1 % (Annual Digest of Statistics, 2001). The
population is expected to increase by some 25% within the next 25 years. Mauritius enjoys high
standards of health, nutrition and education compared to other African countries. Enrolment in the
primary and secondary education has increased from 90% and 25% in 1970 to almost 100% and 52%
in 1995. The adult literacy rate is 83 % (MEPD, 1993) and the life expectancy at birth is about 68 for
males and 75 for females (Annual Digest of Statistics, 2001). Being found in isolation from any large
land masses, the island has evolved a unique flora and fauna with high levels of endemism. On the
discovery of the island in the 16th century, the land was covered with thick green vegetation which
included a variety of palm trees and wood trees. The forests began to decline under the three
successive colonisations by the Dutch (1638-1710), French (1715-1810) and British (1810-1968). The
Dutch started the process by exploiting ebony and palm in the lowland regions and coastal plains.
Indeed, ebony, the finest indigenous wood, was the first exported agricultural commodity of the
island and at one time Mauritius supplied most of the ebony used in Europe. The clearing process
was later accelerated markedly during the French and British administrations to make room
primarily for agriculture and also infrastructure like roads, and settlements. The first known
introduction of Cattle dates back to 1511 (Bennie, 1956) but it was in 1639 that the Dutch Governor
Van der Stel introduced animals like the deer and pigs. During the same period he introduced seeds
and fruits to the island. Thus, vegetables, rice, tobacco and sugar cane were cultivated to feed the
population and for export. Cleared native forest areas in Mauritius were converted to monoculture
of exotic crops and trees such as sugar cane, tea, pine (Pinus spp.), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) and
Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) with a resulting loss of important biodiversity. Nowadays the
native forests are restricted to the southwest escarpments which comprise some of the most
inaccessible parts of the country and which contain some of the most scenic landscapes. Currently,
the total protected area (National Parks and Nature Reserves) amounts to 7,363 ha or about 3.7% of
the total land area. There are about 12,400 hectares of state-owned production forests mostly under
pine and about 34,500 ha of privately owned forests in Mauritius. Up to the 70's, the Mauritian
economy was predominantly based upon the sugar industry with sugar cane as a mono-crop. With
the diversification of agriculture, the advent of industrialisation in the 80's and the promotion of
Mauritius as a tourist destination, the Mauritian economy now rests on a much broader base.
Nowadays the financial sector and the technology industry are being hailed as the next pillars of the
economy. However, sugar cane remains the most important agricultural export followed by flowers
and vegetables. It is still a major net foreign exchange earner by virtue of its low dependency on
foreign imports as raw materials. In 1995 sugar cane cultivation accounted for about 89 % of the
cultivable land, the remaining 11% being under vegetable, fruits, flowers, tea and tobacco. (Digest of
Agricultural Statistics, 2000). The percentage of labour in agriculture corresponding to the livestock
sector is less than 5, with the sugar industry employing more than 90% of the agricultural labour
force (excluding Government employed labour) (Table 1). However it must be borne in mind that
livestock keeping, except for poultry, is mostly a part time activity in Mauritius.

The importance of the livestock sector in Agriculture has increased from 8 % in 1990 to 13 % in 1999
(Table 3) but this increase does not reflect the general situation for the livestock industry in the
country. In fact only the poultry and deer sectors have sustained substantial increases in production
while the others have decreased as will be seen in the next section.

Characteristics of the Mauritian livestock industry. The livestock sector in Mauritius consists
primarily of poultry (meat and eggs), cattle (milk and meat), pig, goats and deer with the other
species being marginally present. The main feature of this sector is that apart from the poultry and
pig industries all other livestock species are reared mostly as a sideline activity. Thus, the majority of
the cattle are kept in units of 1-4 animals while the goat herds rarely exceed 20 – 25 head. The
management is catered for predominantly by family labour and inputs kept to a minimum. Amongst
the small farmers, apart from cattle, part of the production is usually meant for family consumption
in the first instance with the remainder being sold on the market. The chicken industry is
characterized by a few large vertically integrated private firms responsible for the bulk of the
production. Medium and small size producers provide for the rest. As far as the pig sector is
concerned the production is catered for by a few big producers and a lot of small farmers often
grouped into cooperatives. The totality of livestock production is meant for local consumption with
virtually no exports (Appendix 1). Over the past decade, the different components of the local
livestock industry have evolved in different directions depending on the species concerned (Table 4).
The beef and dairy sector have declined drastically due to a decrease in land available for cattle
rearing through increased pressure for residential areas and other developments, 7 work
opportunities in other economic sectors and also due to the liberalization of imports of slaughter
animals in 1996. The decrease in the goat sector is less important because some farmers abandoning
cattle rearing have shifted to goat rearing which is less demanding in terms of efforts while causing
less pressure on the environment at the same time. The pig industry has declined because of
environmental constraints and lack of space for relocation of the farmers. The shortfall in production
in all these sectors as well as increasing demands are met by imports. In contrast the poultry
industry has flourished due to an increase in purchasing power. This has resulted in the development
of the poultry sector as a vertically integrated industry with the private companies being involved
from start to finish; i.e. from feed preparation to marketing of the poultry products through
production of day old chicks. The production of venison has increased to cater for a demand that
was always present and could not be met. This demand is mainly due to the fact that venison is
consumed by all religious groups in the country and is also considered as a lean red meat.

Table 4: Production of the local livestock industry.

Being a small island with sugar cane as the major crop, it is undeniable that Mauritius has relied
heavily on imports for its food. This will remain so in the future despite a change in policy in the early
1980’s when a White paper on Agricultural Diversification was prepared. The end result so far has
been mitigated whereby the self-sufficiency targets for a selected range of items have been attained
or approached (e.g. potato, tomato, fresh vegetables, chicken and eggs) while for other commodities
the results have not been encouraging (e.g. maize, milk and beef). This is evidenced by the growing
dependence of the country on imported foodstuffs and raw materials to supply both the local
market and the agro-industries.

Population trends

The population of Mauritius has increased from 1,056,660 in 1990 to 1,145,196 in 1999. This is in
line with the rate of increase of 1-2 % recorded during the previous 15 years and with the forecast of
about 1% for the next decade. (Digests of Agricultural Statistics 1991 to 2000). This means that the
demand in food will also increase but it should not be too drastic. The percentage of the population
which is found in the urban areas has remained between 40 to 45 % over the past 15 years.

Role of livestock

The change in per capita consumption over the last decade is given in Table 5. Table 6 gives the
projected consumption pattern for some livestock products for the years 2010 and 2020.

Table 5: Per capita consumption of livestock products (kg/year)

While there has been a general increase in demand and consumption of most products, cattle and
fresh milk show a decrease. The 8.48 kg of beef /head/year for 1990 is atypical because the values
for 1989 and 1991 are 5.59 and 6.72 respectively. So the demand for this product was more or less
stable during this period. However, there has been a change in the type of beef meat demand with a
decline in frozen products and an increase in demand for fresh meat. This shift from frozen meat to
fresh beef was probably due to the mad cow disease outbreak in the early 1990’s with the
consumers being more cautious about their health. However the decline was also due to the closure
of a food processing unit engaged into the processing of imported beef for re-exportation purposes.
9 As far as fresh milk is concerned, a decrease in supply accounts for the lower consumption of this
commodity. There is a marked increase in the demand for poultry meat and eggs and this is mainly
due to a more health conscious population preferring white meat and eggs as protein source rather
than red meat. It is also due to a competitive marketing strategy by private firms, which have taken
this opportunity to expand vertically.

Table 6: Projected yearly per capita consumption pattern for selected products for the two decades
Production systems for broiler chicken in Mauritius.

Type: Intensive and industrial

Major species: Chicken

Minor species (if any): Duck, guinea fowl.

No. of heads/farm: 40 000 and above

Ownership: Private consortium

Breeds: Imported hybrid strains

Reliance on inputs: Although they are totally dependent on the use of concentrates manufactured
locally, it must be pointed out that the raw materials are all imported and the feed mills are owned
by the consortium. The birds are under constant monitoring and each consortium has its own
veterinary officer. All veterinary products including vaccines are imported.

Breeding: Parent stocks are imported.

Housing: The birds are housed in large buildings where optimal conditions are maintained and
reared on the deeplitter system or in batteries.

Output: Fresh, chilled and frozen chicken meat; processed chicken products and eggs.

Marketing: The consortiums have their own marketing system with slaughterhouses, processing
plants and proper transport facilities. They also sell their products through franchised outlets.

Risk factors: Problems associated with intensification of production and waste disposal. Also, with
the liberalisation of international trade under the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, there is a
risk that very large producers from some countries dump their production at cheap prices in
developing countries like Mauritius.

Remarks: This is probably the only sector where the term intensive can be properly used. The units
are specialized ones owned by private firms which are involved at all stages of production. They are
concerned uniquely with the commercial imported hybrid strains, be it for broilers or layers. They
also provide day old chicks to small/medium sized farms

The large scale intensive poultry producers witnessed a 50% increase in production from 10 500
tonnes in 1991 to 16 325 tonnes in 1999. This was mainly due to the ability of this sector to respond
to an increasing demand caused by several factors, namely: 1. An increase in the purchasing power
of the Mauritians following a better standard of living. 2. A decrease in the availability of the local
chicken (range chicken). 3. All religious groups in Mauritius consume chicken. 4. The price of chicken
was the cheapest amongst the range of meats available in Mauritius. 5. An expanding tourist
industry. 6. An aggressive advertising campaign. 18 During the same period, the demand for fresh
meat in the form of pre-packed cuts and for processed products like burgers, hams and sausages
gained momentum. While this was again due to an increase in the standard of living and to the
tourist industry, a change in the habits of the population also accounts for this situation. More and
more people, especially women, were working full-time and had less time to devote to cooking,
thereby having recourse to such products.
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