Eid-al-Adha Meat-Fest in Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

Media coverage of Pakistan's brisk Eid-ul-Azha livestock sales are a reminder that the nation is among the world's top ten consumers of goat meat and beef based on USDA data.

Pakistan's goat meat consumption of 779,000 tons in 2011-12 ranks it among the top 3 in the world. 1.7 million tons of beef consumption in Pakistan is ranked  9th among beef consuming nations. In addition, 834,000 tons of poultry meat consumption puts it among world's top 20.

Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2011-12

Along with rising meat consumption, there has also been a big surge in milk consumption with the ongoing livestock revolution in Pakistan. Pakistanis consumed nearly 39 million tons of milk in 2011-12, according to Economic Survey of Pakistan. This translates into 223 Kg of milk consumption per person which is about the same as the developed world's per capita milk consumption and more than twice that of neighboring India's 96 kg per capita.

Although meat consumption in Pakistan is rising, it still remains very low by world standards. At just 18 Kg per person, it's less than half of the world average of 42 Kg per capita meat consumption reported by the FAO.

Being mostly vegetarian, neighboring Indians consume only 3.2 Kg of meat per capita, less than one-fifth of Pakistan's 18 Kg. Daal (legumes or pulses) are popular in South Asia as a protein source.  Indians consume 11.68 Kg of daal per capita, about twice as much as Pakistan's 6.57 Kg.

Another ingredient popular in South Asian cuisine is vegetable oil.  It's an important source of fat and protein for a nutritious and tasty diet. Edible oil consumption soars during the holidays as hundreds of millions of people eat sweets and fried foods during the September-December festive season.   Pakistanis use about 20 Kg of oil, the per capita amount recommended by the World Health Organization, while Indians consume about 13 Kg per capita.

Source: USDA Report 2013

Celebratory occasions like Eid or Diwali push sugar consumption in South Asia. Pakistan's per capita sugar consumption is about 23 Kg while India's is about 20 Kg per person per year.

Fish Farming Growth in Pakistan. Source: FAO

Although still below average relative to the world, per capita consumption of meat, milk and edible oil is rising with rising incomes and standards of living in both India and Pakistan. As the dietary habits change, it'll be important for policy makers and health and fitness professionals to watch the changes and help educate the people about healthy eating.

Here's a video of MeatOne, a meat packer in Karachi:

Post by Meat One.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Livestock and Agribusiness Revolution in Pakistan

Pakistan's Rural Economy Showing Strength

Solving Pakistan's Sugar Crisis

Food, Clothing and Shelter in India and Pakistan 

Is India a Nutritional Weakling?

India Tops World Hunger Charts

[Riaz Haq]

Here's Poultry Production News report o chicken meat and egg consumption in Pakistan:

Pakistan poultry meat consumption up 239% from 2000
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These numbers equate to just 0.7% of global poultry production, but represent an infrastructure exceeding Rs300 billion (US$3.41 billion) and an annual commercial turnover of Rs40 billion (US$454.5 million). Pakistan has a total of 105 hatcheries that produce 820 million broiler chicks annually, as well as the capacity for the production of 8.69 billion commercial eggs and 3.74 million rural eggs.
Numbers are growing, but according to Pakistan Poultry Association former chairman Abdul Basit, there is a need to increase poultry production further to become more competitive in the global market.

http://poultryproductionnews.blogspot.com/2011/10/pakistan-poultry-...

[Riaz Haq]

Here's a Fresh Plaza news report on fruits and vegetables production in Pakistan:

Pakistan produces over 14 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables of which almost one-third is wasted and never reaches the consumer. High post-harvest losses not only lower incomes of producers and traders, but also reduce the quantity available in local market as well as for export. Despite large production, our fresh produce exports are negligible (three per cent) and also fetch lower prices in international markets. So far Pakistani exporters have not been able to penetrate into high end supermarket chains, which account for about 80 per cent of the fruits and vegetables sales in the EU and other developed countries. Mango export earns about $24 million annually and around 60-70 per cent of good quality varieties is exported to the Middle East and 15-16 per cent to Europe.

The export of fresh produce, particularly mango is limited by enormous cost of air freight as compared to sea freight. The interest in sea freighting of mangoes is growing and probably it is the only commercially viable option for export to distant places in the future. However, it needs extended time and specific protocols to be developed for maintaining fruit quality, which is only possible using Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Technology. Mangoes from South America are being successfully shipped to the EU using CA Technology. Looking at the need and demand of the sector, Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) initiated a project on “Exploiting Control Atmosphere Technology potential for extended storage and shipping of fresh produce to international markets”. The project was managed by Dr Aman Ullah Malik, Professor of Horticulture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) to increase shelf life of fresh vegetables and fruits for the export to distant markets.

The project was executed with collaboration of National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFS&T), Plant Pathology department of UAF and METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan.The specific problems addressed were: optimum CA-conditions for different fruits and vegetables; extension of shelf life and maintenance of quality of mangoes and facilitating sea-freighting for reducing cost of shipment to high end markets. Chief Executive PARB Dr Mubarik Ali says the successful establishment of the SOP for CA technology for fresh produce would greatly benefit exporters in future”. It will generate a good return of money invested on research, enhance our exports and create sound recognition for Pakistani fresh products in international markets.
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Dr Amanullah said the usefulness of this project has been demonstrated by arranging seminars, trainings, workshops, meetings and visits for the local growers/ store keepers/ cold store operators/ traders and exporters. Another remarkable achievement is publication of two research papers in the 7th International Post-harvest Symposium in Malaysia. A modern Controlled Atmosphere R & D infrastructure has been developed at Institute of Horticultural Sciences to meet the long-term national needs.

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=102535

[Riaz Haq]

Here's an excerpt from The Hindu story on Tendulkar's eating preferences:

The first time in Pakistan was a memorable experience. I used to just have a couple of keema parathas and lassi for breakfast, skip lunch and have nothing till dinner as it used to be so heavy and delicious and one wouldn’t think of having lunch in the afternoon. But on that tour I was 16 and was growing up. It was a phenomenal experience and when I came back from Pakistan to Mumbai and stood on the weighing scale I couldn’t believe myself. Whenever we have toured Pakistan, the food has been simply delicious and one has to be careful about not putting on weight. When you are 16 though, you can afford to, but not any longer.’’

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/tendulkar-first-tour-of-pakis...

At just 2.4 Kg, Pakistan's per capita fish consumption is among the lowest in the world. It's only half of India's 4.8 Kg and just one-fifth of Bangladesh's 11.6 Kg, but higher than Nepal's 1.3 Kg and Mongolia's 0.2 Kg.

Source: http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/fus/fus04/08_perita2004.pdf

[Riaz Haq]

Here's a BR story on Pak-Aus collaboration in horticulture and dairy sectors:

FAISALABAD: Australian and Pakistani scientists are striving to boost productivity of mango, citrus and dairy.

This was stated by Dr John Spriggs, a professor of Australian Institute for Sustainable Communities, University of Canberra, while addressing participants of Australia-Pakistan Agriculture Sector Linkages Program (ASLP II) research group meeting at Syndicate Hall of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) here on Friday.

He said horticultural and dairy sectors of Pakistan had great productivity potential, which was not being exploited as per capacity. He emphasized scientists to device farmers friendly solutions and packages.

He maintained that ASLP-II project would provide guidelines towards destination of prosperity and rural development. He was of the view that the three-year duration project had been initiated under developed areas of Sindh and Punjab.
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ASLP 2 will:

Enhance selected value chains that benefit the rural poor through improved productivity market and employment opportunities
Support analysis that improves economic and natural resource management
Build the capacity of government, private and civil sectors to service the needs of stakeholders across the program.

ASLP 2 features:

implementation within value-chain frameworks, with additional attention to benefiting the poor and marginalized
focus on horticulture (mango and citrus) and livestock (dairy) sectors, with scope to later extend to other industries
attention to underlying policy, and institutional and technical capacity building
support for baseline assessment of the poverty and gender dimensions, and the modalities and technologies for modern communication within the industries, to broaden improvements and to enhance benefit flows to the poor and marginalised
poverty, gender and communication studies to strengthen capacity for better targeting of effort and extension delivery, and enhance intra- and inter-project collaboration and engagement with industry.

http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/business-a-economy/88746-australi...

http://aciar.gov.au/aslp

[Riaz Haq]

Here's HBS case study outline for Pakistan's K&N poultry:

In 2011 Khalil and Adil Sattar are considering growth opportunities for K&N's, their family business that is the market leader for processed chicken and value-added chicken products in Pakistan. This position has been built through a strategy of vertical integration, product innovation, and branding. K&N's has also developed its own chain of retail "Chicken Stores" to promote their products. Growth opportunities include contained expansion in Pakistan, exporting to nearby markets, and/or developing a global Halal food brand.

http://hbr.org/product/k-n-s-health-and-happiness-for-pakistan/an/5...

[Riaz Haq]

Here's a PakObserver report on German packaging form Multivac entering Pakistani market:

Sunday, December 02, 2012 - Karachi—The overall food and beverage trade in Pakistan has surged to $ 6 billion during 2011. Keeping in view the potential in the food sector of Pakistan a German company MULTIVAC has started operations in Pakistan.

The company moves the market with innovative packaging solutions, individual consultation and exceptional service. Said Amir Sotoudeh, MD MULTIVAC Middle East.

The company manufactures machines for the packaging of fresh or processed food, sterile goods and other medical products, today the company has a worldwide organization with more than 3,300 employees in 55 countries, he added.

We want to facilitate food sector of Pakistan with better packaging facilities in sectors especially ready-to-eat meal, fresh and frozen meat, seafood and bakery products, he further said.

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=185066

[Riaz Haq]

Junaid Jamshed, former Vital Signs singer, has started Meat One, a branded meat service in Pakistan.

Here's the link to it: http://www.meatone.net/

Here's a description from its website:

With a vow to supply supreme quality meat, Meat One is the very first of a new, specialized chain of meat stores in Karachi. Meat One is a subsidiary of the Al Shaheer Corporation, a very successful venture that has been exporting meat to the Middle East and GCC countries since 2008. We presently operate 12 outlets across the city of Karachi with plans to open additional shops. Retailing export quality beef, lamb and mutton, Meat One is the first of its kind in the meat shop space. The meat is supplied by our own abattoir located in Karachi, which currently exports beef and mutton to the Middle East. This plant is certified by health and food import departments of most Middle East and GCC countries. The free range, lean meat that Meat One offers you every day is natural and wholesome!

[Riaz Haq]

Here's NY Times on Argentina beef consumption:

It is hard to overstate beef’s centrality to the Argentine way of life for more than a century. Novels and poems extol the art of cattle ranching on the vast pampas, long a touchstone of national pride. Cafes in this city bulge with diners feasting on steaks washed down with glasses of malbec. At lunchtime, it is still possible to see construction crews preparing slabs of beef on makeshift grills, the smoky smell of this ritual permeating their work sites.

Argentines ate about 129 pounds of beef a person last year, far surpassing Americans, who mustered a mere 57.5 pounds by comparison. But Argentina’s current level is a pale shadow of its peak: 222 pounds of beef for every man, woman and child, achieved in 1956.

Reasons vary for these doldrums. Beef prices have surged with inflation, but cattlemen contend that government price controls aimed at preventing domestic beef consumption from falling further have wreaked havoc by making it costly to maintain large herds. Others, eying China’s rising demand for grains over the last decade, say it is simply more profitable to farm soybeans than to raise cattle.

“We are witnessing a historic decline in our beef industry,” said Ernesto Ambrosetti, chief economist of the Argentine Rural Society, the country’s largest farming association. “Now our smaller neighbors, Paraguay and Uruguay, have passed us” in the export rankings.

Government officials contend that their policies to lift beef consumption, including export restraints and price controls intended to make the meat more affordable, are turning the tide. Indeed, domestic consumption has recovered slightly from a record low in 2011.

But while Argentina has experienced swings in beef consumption in the past, some see the latest drops as evidence of a broader paradigm shift: many Argentines are simply opting for a more varied diet.

The shift — reflected in a rising demand for foods like poultry, pasta and pizza; a greater awareness of the health risks associated with eating beef; and even the emergence of an insurgent vegetarian dining scene in Buenos Aires — does not sit well with some Argentines.

“Beef consumption is threatened by modern trends of healthy eating, mainly the exaltation of what’s natural and ecological, stimulating vegetable consumption,” the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute warned in a 2006 report, warily acknowledging a “new age culture and the appearance of cooking fads incorporating other products.”

For some Argentines who were raised in a society so focused on beef, the adjustment was long overdue. “I almost don’t eat meat now,” said Susana Carfagna, a 61-year-old retiree, as she walked out of a butcher shop with some ground chicken as an alternative to beef burgers. “It’s not healthy. I have high cholesterol and need a more balanced diet.”

At Buenos Aires Verde, a vegetarian restaurant with a pastel orange and lime green color scheme, diners can choose from options like patties made from yamani rice and adzuki beans, or cannelloni made with dehydrated fruit and flax seeds.

“Argentines are demanding a change,” Mauro Massimino, 33, a vegetarian who owns the restaurant, said as his predominantly svelte clientele ate their meals. “Around five years ago, vegetarianism started to gain traction here, and the growth since has been incredible.”

The growth of vegetarian restaurants in Argentina’s capital has unfolded at a time of big change — some say upheaval — in the countryside. As recently as 2007, Argentina had about 55.6 million head of cattle, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. That number fell to 48.1 million in 2011, before recovering somewhat this year to an estimated 51.2 million. (That is still more cows than people, given the country’s population of more than 40 million.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/americas/argentina-falls-fr...

[Riaz Haq]

Here's a Gulf News report on Eid al Azha economy in Pakistan:

Karachi: Pakistan is likely to sacrifice millions of cattle on Eid Al Adha, to be observed on Wednesday generating significant economic activity worth $3-4 billion (Dh11-15 billion) besides performing their religious duty, analysts Tuesday said.
Pakistanis expected to slaughter around six million goats, sheep, cows and camels worth an estimated price of roughly Rs200 billion (Dh7 billion). The animals’ hides and skins, besides offal, horns and hooves also stir tens of billions of rupees into business.
“It is a good opportunity for the rural farmers and breeders who bring their animal to the cities where the people slaughter them in large number on Eid,” Mohammad Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities said.

“To a rough estimate, Eid adds value into the economy to the tune of up to $4 billion,” he said.

In Karachi, one of the largest cattle markets is set up in the northern outskirts of the city where people started visiting. The slaughtering also poses a challenge to the civic agencies in the city as collection of offal has been a big task.
Emergency control rooms have been set up in 18 zones of the city which with the central complaint cell at the Civic Centre, in the central city. The control rooms remain functioning round the clock for the three days of Eid.
The municipal offices estimated that over one million animals would be slaughtered in this mega city.
The metropolitan chief also called upon the people to dump the offal at their nearest garbage collection point so that the sanitary staff could lift it timely and properly. The people were also called upon to not throw offal and casings onto roads, streets, public parks, empty plots of land or into sewage lines.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/eid-to-be-celebrated-today-...

[Riaz Haq]

Nature Magazine published a recent study which showed India and China are driving meat consumption growth in the world.

The researchers calculated the human trophic level for each year from 1961 to 2009 using a data on 102 types of food compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.The metric puts plants and algae, at trophic level 1, and polar bears and orcas, on top positions at levels of up to 5.5.

India's trophic level has now risen to 2.1 while Pakistan's is 2.4.

The countries with the highest trophic levels include Mongolia, Sweden and Finland, which have levels of 2.5, and the whole of Western Europe, USA, Australia, Argentina, Sudan, Mauritania, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, which all have a level of 2.4.

http://www.nature.com/news/humans-are-becoming-more-carnivorous-1.1...