Pork is the only type of meat whose consumption has increased in Russia this year.
Russians ate less beef due to the high price, and imposed restrictions by food safety authorities negatively affected the availability of lamb. This was reported by the Russian economic newspaper “Kommersant” following a study by the National Association of Pig Breeders (NSS).
This year, the average meat consumption in Russia will grow to 77 kg per person per year – a historic record. The main increase comes from pork. In the future, beef consumption will decrease by 1%, related to a decline in household income and a preference for cheaper types of meat.
General NSS director Yuri Kovalev told Agroinvestor that from January to September, pork consumption rose by 5% to 2.92 million tons, while poultry consumption dropped by 1.4% to 3.6 million tons, beef by 2.1% to 1.16 million tons, lamb by 3.8% to 98.9 thousand tons, and other meat types by 2.3% to 35.7 thousand tons.
Kovalev explains this trend mainly by a significant increase in pork production compared to other meat types, as well as a warm autumn that extended the barbecue season. He noted that the coronavirus pandemic affected pork consumption less because this meat type is underrepresented in the hospitality sector, which was particularly affected by quarantine restrictions. Due to higher production, pork prices fell by 10% in the first half of the year.
Head of the National Meat Association Sergei Yushin explains that pig farmers produced 3.05 million tons of meat in the first nine months, 10% more than in the same period last year. Growth in poultry, beef, and other meats was only by a few tenths of a percent.
The head of the NSS also notes that the share of pork consumption has not changed in the past 30 years and still amounts to 33%. In the first half of this year, the share of this meat type in the Russian consumption pattern rose to 37%, but according to Kovalev, this is a short-lived trend.
Director Sergei Lakhtyukhov of the Russian poultry sector told Agroinvestor that poultry meat production increased by 1.1% over eight months. Lakhtyukhov also notes that competition between pork and poultry has intensified significantly.
Due to the increasing supply of pork, poultry farmers cannot raise their product prices, even as their costs rise. At the start of the year, feed costs increased by more than 30%, making the economic situation for poultry farmers currently unenviable, concludes the Russian poultry official.