January 3, 2014
Nicaragua''s chicken consumption reached 1.9 kilogrammes in 2013
Due to its affordable price and its nutritional qualities, the annual average growth rate of chicken meat consumption in Nicaragua, per person, is 680 grams (1.5 pounds) in recent years, while in 2013 poultry meat consumption reached 1.9 kilogrammes (42.5 pounds) per capita.
"This growth in consumption is offset by the average annual growth in chicken meat of 5% in recent years, which has been ensuring food security and better nutrition for the population," said Alfredo Velez, corporate vice president of Cargill Nicaragua.
Velez explained that Cargill produces about 65% of the total national chicken meat production and to ensure that the demand is covered, Cargill has made steady investments such as US$7,000,000 for this year.
According to Velez, poultrymeat has had a single price adjustment in 2013, the average price being NIO27.50 (US$1.07) for whole chicken and NIO28 (US$1.08) for chicken parts.
However, the company recognises that poultry companies do not have the ability to control price speculation for traders, since they often take advantage of the growth in demand.
Between January and September, 2013, 43,930 birds were slaughtered, according to the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), compared to 57,391 birds in 2012. The figure represents an increase of 2,331 birds on slaughter figures for 2011 when 55,060 birds were culled, BCN statistics showed.
The average monthly consumption of chicken meat in Nicaragua is 9.9 million kilogrammes (22 million pounds), according to Vélez.