Milk, meat, and food industrialists' priority in 2024 will be "safe food policies"

Coşkun stated that there is a need to develop quality and efficiency-focused production models in the meat and dairy sectors.

Touching upon the developments experienced this year and expectations for 2024, Coşkun drew attention to the change in costs.

Coşkun said, "It is important to develop efficiency and quality-focused production models to increase our capacity utilization. Our expectation for 2024 is the implementation of solution-oriented policies regarding structural measures and safe food, in addition to monetary and fiscal policies to combat inflation."

Pointing out that the increase in costs also affects exports, Coşkun provided information that while 513 million dollars of exports were made in exchange for 173 thousand tons in the first 10 months of last year, 276 million dollars of exports were realized in exchange for 99 thousand tons in the same period of this year.

Stating that the aforementioned decline was caused by the decrease in milk powder and butter exports in particular, Coşkun used the expression, "We expect milk and dairy product exports to be at the level of 115 thousand tons in 2023, compared to 192 thousand tons of milk and dairy product exports in 2022."

Stating that the world milk production estimate in 2022 was 935.9 million tons, Coşkun noted that 2.3 percent of world milk production is carried out in Turkey and that the country ranks 8th in the world and 3rd among EU countries in cow milk production.

Stating that according to FAO data, the annual per capita consumption of milk and dairy products in the world is an average of 117.4 kilograms of milk equivalent, Coşkun noted the following:

"According to TUIK figures, our country's per capita milk consumption in 2022 is approximately 253 kilograms of milk equivalent. According to the calculations made by the National Dairy Council, 39.1 kilograms of drinking milk, 19.6 kilograms of cheese, 29 kilograms of yogurt, 10 kilograms of ayran, and 2.15 kilograms of butter are consumed per person annually in our country."

"Annual per capita meat consumption in Turkey is 52-54 kilograms"

Coşkun stated that the level of 2.2 million tons was reached with a 12.3 percent increase in red meat production in 2022, and that Turkey's share in world red meat production is 1.6 percent.

Expressing that the continuation of price increases in inputs such as feed, livestock for fattening, fuel, electricity, and labor in 2023 increased production costs, Coşkun reported that they calculate the annual per capita red meat consumption in Turkey as approximately 25 kilograms. Coşkun made the assessment, "When it is taken into account that 5-6 kilograms of fish and 22-23 kilograms of poultry meat are consumed annually in our country, we can say that the total per capita meat consumption is 52-54 kilograms annually. It is stated that approximately 35 percent of the capacities of fattening farms are full. In this context, instead of carcass meat and slaughter animal imports, feeder animal imports should continue to be made."

The sector's 2024 goals

Emphasizing that the red meat, milk, and feed sectors are inseparable sectors in Turkey and the world, Coşkun also said the following regarding the 2024 goals and expectations:

"All three sectors should be evaluated together with livestock and livestock-based plant production. Our need is the development of quality and efficiency-focused production models in all input sources of the sector. The most important issue in this process is how important it is for countries to be self-sufficient in the production of food raw materials. We continue our work on ensuring the sustainability of the milk and meat sectors, feed production and cost management, ensuring the effective management of subsidies, developing and solving problems with export subsidies, ensuring the accuracy of data and statistical values, organizing and strengthening producer organizations, resolving maturity and collection problems in the supply chain, increasing raw milk quality, eliminating problems experienced in the collection of raw milk, ensuring food safety in the milk and meat sector, effectively combating informality, preventing information pollution in the milk and meat sector, distinguishing between cow and veal meat in retail sales, increasing measures regarding the protection of water resources and preventing food waste, developing the use of biotechnology in the livestock and food sector, and increasing the access of the young population to basic protein sources."