Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based market research agency Future Market Insights (FMI) is projecting that global tilapia production and consumption over the coming decade will quadruple.
The consultancy’s study claims “penetration of Chinese cuisine in Europe and North America” has driven demand for tilapia in those territories. An increase in demand for convenience food “will boost the demand for processed and frozen tilapias in the coming years,” the report stated.
Drivers for growth singled out by the report’s authors include increased packaged foods in the U.S., alongside “heavy investment” by Egypt in export-oriented fish farming. The report also projects increased output of tilapia in India, driven by improved yields, and China. Singapore, as well, will see increased as part of that nation’s intent to increase local food security.
A quest for incomes efficiency is driving investments in breeding, FMI said.
“Tilapia nurseries are being set up by small market players and heavy investment is done towards creating optimum breading conditions of tilapia,” it said. “One such instance is Blue Ridge Aquaculture invested USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.07 million) in November 2020 to boost the farming facilities and remove dependence on third party for quality and supply chain management.”
The report also suggests an increased scope for tilapia use in cosmetics and medicine as tilapia processors seek to maximize revenues.
“Leading players are working towards waste utilization generated from tilapia processing. Filleting by-products are found to have exceptional medical use,” FMI said in a press release.
An executive at a U.S.-invested Chinese tilapia firm said he was unaware of the report’s findings, and added that the growth projections it cites were “optimistic.” FMI has yet to respond to SeafoodSource's request for more details on how it calculated its demand projections.
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