Producer and consumer attitudes towards red meat in Turkey

Abstract

World feed prices have increased significantly in recent years. The increases of 71% in barley, 57% in wheat, 44% in soybean, 71%, in sunflower seed meal, 62% in wheat bran and 39% in corn have influenced production costs of red meat negatively. However, world red meat prices, especially in countries with pasture-based farming systems, did not increase greatly. The steep increase in feed price came together with a weakening of consumers’ purchasing power over last ten years in Turkey. The general agricultural policy in Turkey and the weakening in purchasing power have resulted in consumer difficulties in buying red meat and meat products recently. People have significantly shifted towards poultry products, pasta and rice in their consumption pattern, because of the relatively lower prices of these products. The increase in pasta consumption of 53% in 10 years clearly shows this trend. Per capita annual consumption of poultry products rose from about 10kg in 2000 to 16.5kg in 2010. An increasing population in cities and a rather low increase in productivity of the majority of farms with the so called poly-agricultural farming system caused red beef prices to soar in recent 5 years. In fact, EU beef carcass prices are presently lower than in Turkey: beef prices in the period 2002-2009 were, respectively, €270-332 /100kg in the EU, and €302-438 /100kg in Turkey. Consumer prices for red meat have increased by more than 50% in the last 2 years, resulting in Turkish people consuming more poultry meat, grains and vegetables.