Spain�s poultry market is expanding at a pace of 8% per year
In the last 10 years, Spain’s poultry consumption has grown by an average rate of 6%, with an accentuated pace of
growth by 8% registered in the last 3 years. It is a little bit unusual for a nation that seems to be addicted to pork but there is an explanation for that.
The cheaper, the better
The economic downturn in Europe has been negatively impacted the meat consumption in the region but it never affected
the poultry meat, the cheapest source of protein in the market.
As a result, the market for the poultry products expanded in the region, the trend is visible even in Spain and Portugal, two markets that were seen as a big consumers of pork. In the European Union, sales of cheaper
broiler cuts increased faster than sales of expensive parts like breasts or whole-bird.
Nevertheless, the EU’ s poultry production grew as well, Poland playing the role of the leader in broiler meat producing country in EU-28 region. A forecast made by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Warsaw predicted that Poland’s poultry production in 2018 will surpass 2 million tons. The country is accounting for 20% of the
EU poultry production. At the same time, Spain has accounted for an 11% market share in both production and consumption of poultry. A similar rate in poultry consumption was registered in Poland, Germany and France.
Spanish broiler production grew in the past years but will likely stabilize in 2018 because the decline in prices paid to farmers (despite decreasing feed costs) have lowered producers’ margins and led to the closure of uncompetitive poultry farms. In addition, some producers are switching production to other poultry products such as turkey or duck, according to a USDA analysis.
New investments
Still, the steady growth of consumption has stimulated investments like the one made by OSI Food Solutions Spain, a subsidiary of American based OSI Group. The company has doubled the production capacity at its facility in Toledo, the ability to process chicken being raised to 24,000 tons per year. The total production capacity of chicken, pork and beef stands now at 45,000 tons per year, poultry being now the most representative product of the Spanish
branch. OSI President David McDonald mentioned that the expansion is part of a plan to increase the company’s portfolio of products and encourage the growth of their foodservice and retail account services.
Since 2016, OSI Group has developed a strategy of acquisitions that increased its role in the global market. In Europe, the company purchased Flagship Europe from the Flagship Food Group in 2016, renaming it Creative Foods Europe in January 2018. Last year, the company expanded its operations at its OSI Food Solutions facility in Toledo, Spain.
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