At the International Agricultural Show in Morocco (SIAM), the scent of red meat did not only float above the exhibition stands. It is a scent of commercial opportunities that attracted the eyes of a dozen foreign players who came to probe a Moroccan market in full change, where the increase in prices stirs up both consumers’ concerns and supplier appetite.
In Meknes, during this 17ᵉ edition of Siam, exchanges did not only focus on agricultural technologies or sustainable models. It is the meat sector, especially red meat, which has concentrated the attention of commercial delegations. Eight Spanish companies – some already established in the kingdom – have multiplied contacts with Moroccan importers. The objective is clear: to strengthen their anchoring on a market that is both solvent and in search of alternatives in the face of the prices.
France, on the other hand, was represented by three large exporting groups, determined to reactivate a tradition of agrifood exchanges between the two banks of the Mediterranean. But it is above all the remarkable presence of two Brazilian companies which testifies to the strategic turning point that Morocco takes in international meat distribution circuits. By focusing on a low-cost offer, the South American suppliers intend to win in the face of their European competitors, by offering competitive and accessible meat for a under tension purchasing power.
This convergence of interests illustrates a broader phenomenon: the switch of Morocco as a destination market for the major global exporters of red meat. While the Kingdom faces persistent inflation, especially on food products, the arrival of new players could ultimately weigh on locally charged prices. Enough to give households a little air, for whom meat has become a luxury product in recent months.
-« Morocco attracts because it combines stable demand, a young population and an expanding middle class, while remaining depending on imports to balance its domestic market “Explains a Spanish professional present at the show. A dependence that some want to transform into a strategic lever, by sustainably inserting into Moroccan distribution circuits.
But this foreign offensive does not fail to arouse questions. If the increased opening of the market to international suppliers can promote a drop in prices, it also raises the question of the competitiveness of local producers, already weakened by high livestock costs and recurrent drought episodes. A delicate balance, between national food security and integration into global value chains.
SIAM 2025 will therefore have been much more than an agricultural showcase. He will have crystallized, for a week, the tensions and hopes of a red meat market in full recomposition, at the crossroads of social, economic and strategic issues.
