The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, are home to 52.4 million people amongst the world richest in terms of per capita wealth.
However, due to water shortage and lack of arable land, these countries need to import almost 90% of their food requirements. These conditions make the growth and outlook of the food sector a very important issue for the GCC countries.
Population increase, growing tourism and transit passengers passing through GCC countries and active Hotel, Restaurants, and Institution (HRI) sectors contribute positively to increasing meat consumption. GCC countries largely rely on imports of meat to meet most of their food requirements. The GCC countries imported over US$5.0 billion worth of meat and meat products in 2015.