World meat industry news

In Ukraine, prices for meat of all kinds will rise rapidly this spring. Probable growth is foreseen in one and a half times. The cost of meat will rise due to the increase in the cost of energy and feed.

Nikolai Babenko, Executive Director of the Meat Industry Association, spoke about the reasons for the increase in meat prices.

Meat is a delicacy for many Ukrainians and will rise in price in the near future. The expert believes that a sharp increase in the cost of meat is expected around the end of March this year. The rise in prices for chicken, pork and other food products by the rise in grain prices in Ukraine and the world back in November 2020.

In 2021, Ukrainian producers lost part of their chicken exports and were forced to sell their product on their home market - in Ukraine. Because of this, chicken prices rose slowly. And along with them, prices for other types of meat also kept. According to the expert, in fact, the shortage or surplus of chicken has a decisive influence on the cost of the rest of the meat, because chicken is the most purchased product of the meat industry today.

However, this year there is no stock of cheap feed. And the cost of energy is not going down. But it is these two components that are the basis of the cost of meat. The cost of feed is 70–80% of the cost of pig and chicken meat. Some poultry enterprises have already closed, not compensating for rising production costs.

Therefore, Ukraine is likely to see a sharp rise in meat prices at the end of March. They can grow one and a half times at once. Given the very small increase in wages and social benefits included in the 2022 budget, meat products will remain in the diet of only wealthy Ukrainians.