Israelis consume more poultry than ever
Dun & Bradstreet survey: Over past eight years, poultry consumption rises by 6.5 kilos average per person. Poultry is preferred meat for Israelis
In comparison to other countries in the world, Italy and France consume one third of the poultry compared to Israel, whereas in Canada consumption is similar to Israel. In the United States, however, the consumption stands at 40.8 kilos (89.76 pounds) per person annually, the highest in the world.
The study indicates that poultry is the preferred meat product for Israelis. Israel produces more than 300,000 tons of chicken and 100,000 tons of turkey per year. Chicken meat constitutes about 78 percent of meat consumption in Israel, followed by beef with only 10 percent, turkey with 8 percent, lamb with less than 1 percent, and other meat.
The poultry fattening industry, which includes chickens and turkeys, is estimated at NIS 4.2 billion (USD 1 billion) in final consumer prices. Despite the drop in prices, the annual volume of the industry has not changed significantly over the past three years mostly due to the rise in levels of consumption.
Meat consumption lower than in other countries
The chilled poultry, which does not go through a freezing process, is the favorite product for the Israeli consumer. About 77 percent of all poultry sold in Israel are of the chilled variety.
The frozen poultry currently takes only 20 percent of the market, whereas only ten years ago, the situation was reversed, mostly due to a government subsidy on frozen poultry which was stopped in 1989.
The study also indicates that the meat consumption in Israel is lower compared to other countries, whereas poultry consumption is greater than in other countries.
In Germany, for example, more than 50 percent of the meat consumption comes from pork, and in Argentina, the main type of meat consumed is beef due to high availability and low prices.
