Russia to boost turkey consumption in the coming years

Russian turkey producers have the prospect of a fivefold increase in production during coming years thanks to the forecasted rise of the country’s consumption, says the vice-president of the International Poultry Development Program (IPDP), Albert Davleyev.

Speaking during the conference Red Meat and Poultry, held recently at the exhibition World Food Moscow 2014, he added, “In Russia, there is great interest in this product, the import of which is practically limited”.

“We are gradually climbing higher in the quality of production compared to other world manufacturers. In addition, according to our estimates, Russia is fully capable of consuming at least 5-6 kg per capita. Most likely, it will be from 6-7 kg.”

Today, the country consumed only one kg of turkey per person per year, which is indicates the rapid growth of the industry – a year earlier per capita consumption of turkey meat was estimated to be 0.4 kg.

The share of turkey meat in the structure of the Russian poultry industry is still insignificant – only 2.4%. In 2013, Russia produced 137,000 tonnes of turkey meat in live weight. According to the forecast of the Russian Union of Poultry Farmers, by 2017 the volume of turkey production in the country will rise to 417,000 tonnes, three times higher compared to the level of last year.