The first international and specialized exhibition of meat and related industries, Meatex, is scheduled to be held in Tehran on November 5-8, the executive manager of the exhibition said.
“The event is aimed at providing Iran’s processed meat industry with domestic and foreign investments, as well as supplying halal products to Islamic countries. Meatex is one of the first specialized exhibitions for halal processed meat products in the world,” Hormoz Mahbod was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to Global Halal Institute, the halal food market in the world is worth $2 trillion per annum while Iran’s share is a meager $5-6 million annually.
According to the official, the exhibition will have two sections.
“The first is related industries where all the machinery and latest technology for production, processing, packaging, storage and sales will be displayed. The second section is where seafood, livestock and poultry meat together with processed products will be put up for sale,” he said.
Companies from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, France, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Finland will be participating in the exhibition.
Last Year’s Meat Production at 490KT
About 490,000 tons of processed meat products were produced in the last Iranian year (March 2015-16) and the figure is estimated to exceed 500,000 tons this year, Majid Aflaki with Processed Meat Industries Association said.
“Last year, we exported more than $7.5 million worth of these products to Iraq and Afghanistan. The littoral states of the Persian Gulf are also considered a large market for Iranian meat products,” he said.
Some 100,000 tons of red meat worth $425.9 million were imported from China, Germany, Australia, the UAE, Brazil, Turkey, Oman and the Netherlands during the same period, indicating a 44.8% and 20.3% growth in volume and value respectively compared with the previous year.
The Agricultural Jihad Ministry plans to limit annual imports to 60,000 tons.
Iran’s per capita processed meat consumption is between 5 and 5.5 kilograms.
According to Aflaki, the industry is currently working at 66% capacity and is in need of local and foreign investments to flourish.
Nomadic tribes in Iran possess about 24 million head of livestock and provide for 20% of domestic demand for meat and dairy products.
Russian Frozen Beef Imports Approved
Iran’s Veterinary Organization has endorsed a protocol on Russian frozen beef supplies, the Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Tuesday.
IVO experts visited Russia twice this year to examine Russian control systems in beef and poultry production, Russian news agency Sputnik News reported.
“The coordination of the protocol is in fact the official Iranian market opening for Russian beef producers,” Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement following the bilateral meeting.
According to Rosselkhoznadzor, Iran has also requested that a visit be arranged to Russian fish processing plants keen on exporting fish products to Iran.
