Chicken will overtake pork as Europe's most-eaten meat within 10 to 15 years as part of a global boom in poultry demand, Juraj Seketa, chief executive of Animalco, the meat trading division of Czech agri-food group Agrofert, said in an interview at the SIAL food fair near Paris, The Poultry Site reports, citing Reuters.
"We believe that, in terms of 10 or 15 years, the consumption of poultry, even in Europe, will be higher than the consumption of pork," Seketa said. Poultry is seen as cheap, nutritious and easy to prepare, and even in Asian markets where pork is popular, such as the Philippines, clients are increasingly asking for chicken, he said.
Agrofert is expanding its chicken capacity, including a new poultry slaughterhouse line in its home market. The European Commission projects that per-person pork consumption in the EU will decline steadily to 2035 while poultry grows, although it still expects pork to remain the more consumed meat over that period.
Animalco is also targeting markets outside Europe for long-term growth, helped by efforts to lift Asian bans on Czech pork imposed after past outbreaks of African swine fever; it resumed shipments to Vietnam this year. Seketa said higher shipping costs, driven by a fuel price spike, are complicating exports to price-sensitive markets for staple meats.
Agrofert's food businesses generated about €2.5 billion in revenue last year. The report is by Melanie Epp.
Photo: USDA / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: The Poultry Site
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