Saudis among largest consumer of Chicken, produce 45 percent of the domestic consumption

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(Jeddah-NewsHalal, Jumada Al-Akhir 9, 1437, March 18, 2016) Meat consumption is a part of daily dining in the Middle East while the Saudi Arabia is on of the top meat consumers.

According to a report published by Saudi Gazette, Saudis are one of world’s largest consumers of chicken, eating 47kg of chicken meat and an estimated 120 eggs a year per person on an average. India, China, Russia, United States, Pakistan, Japan and Mexico are largest beef consumers in the world while United States is largest Chicken consumer in the World. China, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Brazil, Italy, India and Russia are among 10 largest Chicken consumers.

An investor in fish aquaculture reportedly told that the Saudis eat less than 9kg of fish a year, well below the global average of 25kg per person and lower than the Gulf average of 28kg.

Chief Executive of the National Group for Aquaculture Ahmed Balla was quoted as saying that eating habit of Saudis was one of the major challenges facing aquaculture projects in Saudi Arabia.

In a working paper put forward in the first session of workshops on Agricultural Development in the Makkah region, which was held in Jeddah, Balla said: “Saudis largely eat poultry and red meat. They tend to avoid fish and marine and farm products.”

Citizens in Arab Gulf states consume 28kg of fishery products every year, with the UAE and Oman being particularly high in terms of consumption.

Technical adviser to Fakih Poultry Mohammed Al-Ghamdi said that Saudi Arabia is among the top poultry consuming countries in the world.

“The volume of investments in this area is up to SR42 billion (more than 11 billion USD). Some 700,000 tons of poultry was domestically produced in 2015, covering 45 percent of the domestic consumption,” Al-Ghamdi said.

Balla said that the challenges facing aquaculture projects include the lack of awareness among the public and the lack of trained national labor qualified to work in the industry.