Major South African chicken producer doubling up

Major South African poultry producer Rainbow Chicken continues to go from strength to strength, with its upcoming interim results expected to see earnings rise by up to 115%.

This comes as Rainbow Chicken has been implementing its “Brilliant Basics” strategy, which has led the producer to maintain a relentless focus on agricultural performance and operational efficiencies.

Established in 1960, Rainbow Chicken has grown from a small stall selling chicken in central Durban to one of the country’s largest chicken producers.

The company was unbundled and listed separately from its former parent, RCL Foods, in 2024 and has since flourished as a stand-alone business.

Having weathered the perfect storm of load-shedding and an avian flu outbreak, RCL has bounced back stronger than ever, with the company’s “Brilliant Basics” strategy paying off in spades.

On Wednesday, 4 February, Rainbow Chicken released a trading statement that showed the company’s strong growth is expected to continue.

The trading statement detailed Rainbow’s earnings expectations for the six months ended 28 December 2025, which marks the first half of its 2026 financial year.

In this statement, the poultry producer said it expects its earnings per share to be between 69.46 cents (up 95.2%) and 76.57 cents (up 115.2%) compared to the first half of its 2025 financial year.

Similarly, Rainbow Chicken expects its headline earnings per share to be between 69.46 cents (up 94.9%) and 76.59 cents (up 114.9%) for the six-month period.

The company explained that this significant growth was primarily driven by Rainbow’s relentless focus on agricultural performance and operational efficiencies.

In addition, the results were boosted by strong demand and lower feed costs, resulting from reduced commodity input costs.

Rainbow Chicken will release its interim results on or about Wednesday, 11 March 2026.