Türkiye's protein shift isn't about health trends or marketing. It's arithmetic.
USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service in Ankara forecasts Turkish chicken consumption will rise 7 percent in 2026, to 2.45 million metric tons, with per-capita intake set to pass 25 kg. The report is blunt about why: chicken stays the top protein because beef is too expensive, not because anyone prefers it.
The price data backs this up. TurkStat figures cited in the same report show the lamb price index up 660.6 percent and beef up 616.7 percent since 2021, both well ahead of the overall meat price index's 487.9 percent rise. By this September, retail beef was running near US$19 per kg against roughly US$2.60 for chicken, a gap wide enough that red meat has quietly become an occasional purchase for most households.
What this means for anyone selling into Türkiye: protein choice here is price elastic, not brand loyal. A poultry exporter, QSR chain or foodservice supplier shouldn't be pricing against other chicken brands. The real competitive set is beef and lamb, and the opportunity is in value-pack formats, cut selection and positioning chicken as the smart substitute, not a separate category.
If you're building a SKU mix for Türkiye, are you pricing against the right competitor?
Planning a move into Türkiye or the wider region? Happy to talk it through → zeluxa.com
Sources
- USDA FAS Ankara — Poultry and Products Annual, Turkiye (Report TU2025-0045, August 25, 2025)
- APEDA AgriExchange — USDA FAS Poultry and Products Annual, Turkiye (mirror of TU2025-0045)
- Türkiye Today — Disease cuts Türkiye's meat and milk output, driving prices higher (citing TurkStat and FAO)
- Global Product Prices — Turkey: prices and cost of living, Chicken and Beef meat prices, September 2026
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