Competitive Hungarian turkey

In November the Hungarian Turkey Association organised its annual conference. Participants learned that Hungary is one of the biggest turkey eating nations. Representatives of the association told: there will always be bird flu, but risks can be reduced by complying with the epidemic control rules. Most Hungarian turkey breeders are protected against bird flu.

Dr Attila Csorbai, president of the Hungarian Poultry Product Board (BTT) and general secretary of the Hungarian Turkey Association, gave a presentation. He told that last year 5.5 million tons of turkey meat was produced at world level. From this the European Union’s share was 36 percent, but the EU eats more turkey than it produces, so turkey meat is imported as well, mainly from Brazil. In Hungary the poultry sector is developing nicely. In 2016 slaughter poultry production is expected to be above 600,000 tons.

Hungary is one of the biggest consumers of turkey meat in the world: per capita consumption is 5.8-5.9kg a year. The sector had a good year in both 2014 and 2015, but at the moment it is in stagnation: market demand has reduced, the effect of the VAT cut can’t be felt yet and there is an oversupply, therefore prices have dropped significantly.

György Endrődi, BTT’s representative in Brussels spoke about the sector situation in the EU. He told that Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Poland are responsible for 80 percent of production. The level of production increased by 2 percent in 2015 and the same growth rate is expected for 2016. Consumption is dropping in quite a few EU member states, because of competitiveness issues.