Russian turkey industry gets closer to world leaders in 2021: Corrected

The total volume of turkey meat production in Russia in 2021 in all categories of farms – in industrial enterprises, independent and backyard farms – increased by 22.67% over the year and amounted to 400,133 tonnes in slaughter weight, Agrifood Strategies said.

Russian turkey industry moves closer to 1st place in Europe

Considering the dynamics of production and markets of turkey meat in the EU, the US, Brazil and other countries, Agrifood Strategies also concludes that the 2021 results bring the Russian turkey industry very close to first place in Europe and the second in the world, after the US.

However, the final ranking of the world’s leading turkey producers will be available in the second quarter of the year after publication of the final statistics from all countries, the company said.

Good growth in turkey meat output

Agrifood Strategies pointed out that over the past decade, the output of turkey meat in Russia has grown more than 4 times with record annual growth rate of 20%.

For the third year in a row, the overall output of the Russian poultry industry has remained stable solely due to the expansion of the turkey sector. The production of broiler meat in 2021 decreased, according to various estimates, by 1.2-1.7%, therefore, the growth of turkey meat production fully compensated for this decrease, and the share of turkey in the total volume of poultry meat output in Russia reached 8%.

The main increase of more than 40,000 tonnes was due to the re-start of the former assets of Eurodon by the Damate Group, which leased and revived commercial rearing farms and processing facilities, as well as the parent stock in the Ust-Donetsk district of the Rostov region.

Russia’s leading turkey companies

The top 5 Russian turkey companies produced 294,000 tonnes of meat, which represents 80% of industrial production, while the 2 leaders – Damate and Cherkizovo groups of companies – consolidated 54.93% and 14.39% of the industry, respectively, Agrifood Strategies said.

The past year surprised the analysts with the doubling of turkey production in independent and backyard farms. Different from many other countries, industrial turkey producers in Russia are vertically integrated and operate their own breeding and fattening farms, along with their own feed mills, hatcheries, and processing plants. Therefore, turkey meat produced in small private farms and backyards is sold in limited quantities in open markets or is consumed internally in households, the company concluded.

*This article has corrected information as opposed to the earlier version in which it was mistakenly reported that Russia had become the world’s second-largest turkey producer, attributing this statement to Agrifood Strategies’s research. In fact, that statement was sourced from the Russian state publication Russian Gazette, and by no means should have been attributed to Agrifood Strategies.