A new index showing the price of meat around the world has underlined the rising cost of producing some of the most widely consumed meats.
The 2017 Meat Price Index from online catering platform Caterwings details the average retail price of chicken, beef, lamb, fish and pork in more than 50 of the largest meat-producing and meat-consuming countries in the world.
The research shows the seismic differences in meat prices from country to country, as well as the number of hours a local worker would have to work in order to earn enough money to buy 1kg of each meat, based on the country’s minimum wage.
In Denmark, for instance, consumers would have to work for one hour to be able to buy 1kg of beef, or 42 minutes for 1kg of pork, making Danish meat prices the most affordable in line with local pay. Despite its relatively low meat prices, India has the least affordable meat in any of the countries researched; labourers would have to work for 32 hours to afford 1kg of lamb, more than ten hours for 1kg of chicken, and almost 40 hours for 1kg of pork.
Cheapest and most expensive meat prices
*Based on the 52 major meat markets surveyed.
In value terms, Switzerland has the most expensive meat prices, while Ukraine has the cheapest.
The average price of chicken in Switzerland is 222% higher than the global average, though a higher minimum wage makes that variance affordable to the majority of consumers, while beef prices in Ukraine are nearly 60% below the global average.
The calculations take the full retail price of meat products in national grocery outlets in each of the 52 countries, which were then used to determine an average country-by-country and category-by-category.
Of the world’s top producers of meat, only seven – India, Brazil, Vietnam, Poland, the UK, China and Spain – were able to record a domestic average price of meat across all five categories below the global mean.
In particular, prices in Australia and New Zealand – two of the world’s most prolific producers of lamb and beef – plus pork prices in Denmark, were significantly above the global average. The price of lamb in New Zealand is 19.9% above average, while pork prices in Denmark are 30.8% higher – although both of these figures are likely to fall slightly when adjusted for purchasing power.
Likewise, the price of beef, chicken, fish and pork in the US is between 8.2% and 22.4% higher than the global average, despite it being one of the world’s largest producers in each of the four categories.
The figures show the unsustainable nature of animal protein, as the world population continues to grow and demand for meat surges. According to the OECD, average meat consumption has fallen by 0.3kg per person in the last 20 years but is expected to rise again over the next decade, driven by higher demand in developed economies.
Alternative offerings made from plants and insects have flooded the market in recent years, attempting to provide a more sustainable solution to consumers’ protein needs. The issue lies at the heart of attempts to safeguard the future food supply.
Caterwings CEO Alexander Brunst said: “What began as a simple catering cost price index for market research has raised some important questions. It is clear that international inequality exists, and as the world begins to rethink the implications of globalisation, this study clearly demonstrates that food prices ought to be on the agenda.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024