Poultry to strut its stuff this decade: report

According to a recent report, most of the world’s demand for animal protein will be for poultry.

In fact, says a story on MeatPoultry.com, 60 per cent will be for poultry, which will also overtake pork as the world’s most popular meat by 2020.

The statistics come from GIRA, an international meat consultancy firm.

According to the National Chicken Council, reports MeatPoultry.com, the demand for animal protein would grow by 40 million metric tons in the next 10 years, about 14 per cent of the current total, with about 24 million tons of the increase consisting of poultry meat.

The category will grow at twice the rate of pork, which is now the most popular animal protein around the world.

Consumers are likely to buy more poultry because it’s generally lower in price compared to beef and pork, says GIRA. Especially with the global economic slump, experts forecast consumers are going to seek out more reasonably priced protein.

The GIRA report says the strongest growth in the poultry sector will be seen in the U.S., South America, Russia, the Middle East and China, says MeatPoultry.com.

Over the next 10 years, the U.S. will add 3.3 million metric tons of poultry meat production to more than 22.7 million tons, with exports growing from just under three million metric tons this year to 3.67 million in 2020.

However, Brazil could be shipping more than five million metric tons of poultry meat by 2020, says the report.