Saudi Arabia to Boost Chicken Production

One of the hottest and driest countries on Earth has nearly doubled its poultry production in the past decade.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ramping up chicken production, taking advantage of the soaring desert temperatures, BLOOMBERG reported on January 26 in the English-language Japanese newspaper The Japan Times .

One of the hottest and driest countries on Earth has nearly doubled its poultry production in the past decade as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushes for food self-sufficiency. The kingdom imports about 80% of its food, raising fears of shortages at a time of rising geopolitical tensions, contagious animal diseases and disrupted supply chains.

The highway leading west from the Saudi capital runs through the Ad Dahna Desert, where summer temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius.

The remote region, known as Shaqra, is the oil state’s hub for raising more chickens and A local processing plant owned by Tanmiah Food processes about 150,000 birds a day, supplying McDonald’s, Popeyes and Subway, among others.

The Kingdom has adopted a Vision 2030 strategy that envisions diversifying the economy away from oil by developing industries such as tourism, automobiles and semiconductors. So far, more than $1 trillion has been allocated to the program.

Feeding people is also a focus for the government, with at least 17 billion riyals (RUB 440 billion) allocated to the poultry sector alone. The Kingdom also wants more farmers growing fruits , vegetables and fish, and is building up strategic food reserves in case of future crises.

The company is also looking abroad, investing in poultry producers such as Brazil’s BRF SA and Ukraine’s MHP SE; operating farmland in Arizona and California; and working to acquire the Singapore-based agribusiness unit of Olam Group. Earlier this month, Tanmiah said it was partnering with Chinese contractor Chengdu Design & Research Institute to build 100 broiler houses across the country.

Chicken , the world’s most consumed MEAT , is an affordable source of protein in a country where the middle class is growing rapidly, beef remains a luxury, and the population of about 37 million is young and increasingly Westernized.

With a growth rate of about 6% per year, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s fastest-growing producers, according to Gira. Restaurant chains like AlBaik, the local version of KFC, have achieved cult status as the country’s annual consumption has surpassed 1.5 million tons.

Just a decade ago, one in five chickens died before reaching the butcher, said Tanmiah CEO Zulfiqar Hamadani.

Today, the bird mortality rate is less than 4%, the upper limit for the company’s local farmers. Suppliers can earn bonuses for meeting that requirement .

His company is the country’s fourth-largest producer. Shares have risen 17% in the past year.

Official data showed Saudi Arabia produced a record 558,000 tonnes of poultry meat in the first half of 2024

, up 9% from a year earlier. “It’s all about developing a unique diet and finding the right temperatures,” said Marcos DeLorenzo, the division’s CEO. Antibiotics and growth hormones are avoided, and the birds eat a diet high in protein, amino acids and electrolytes.

Adult chickens are kept in broiler houses at temperatures no higher than 24°C before reaching the Shakra plant. Chickens must be raised at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).

Saudis prefer a whole chicken as the centerpiece of dishes like kabsa and madhut, weighing no more than 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms). That’s about half the size of a typical American, British or Brazilian bird.

But as society changes — with more women working and driving, spending less time at home — chicken is increasingly being sold in smaller portions. BRF has introduced its Easy and Juicy line, pre-marinated strips and cubes that can be cooked in 10 minutes.

“Ladies want convenience,” said Igor Marti, vice president of halal markets at BRF, which owns the Sadia brand and has been supplying chicken to the kingdom since the 1970s. “They want to go home, they want something easy to cook and nutritious.”

BRF sells about 350,000 tons a year and employs about 1,000 local workers.

The shift in trade weights from mostly imported to mostly local meat will have global implications, with Brazil and Ukraine likely to see supply cuts. However, this could be mitigated by Saudi Arabia’s increased purchases of soybeans, corn and other grains for poultry feed — not just for domestic consumption.

Tanmiah is working with Arkansas-based Tyson Foods to create a global halal food brand for EXPORT, Hamadani said. BRF’s Saudi operations will help achieve that goal, the company said. The Saudi government

faces a massive budget deficit through 2030, according to the International Monetary Fund.Brent crude is trading below the $90 a barrel or higher level the kingdom needs to balance its finances this year, making it one of the biggest issuers of emerging-market bonds.

Still, Tanmiah maintains grand ambitions, fueled by a projected 60% jump in revenue from 2023 to 2026, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. In addition to the new broiler houses, the company plans to build another feed mill, a “mega-hatchery,” more farms and a state-of-the-art processing plant.