India's Meat Consumption On the Rise

Despite a strong culture of vegetarianism, India sees a sharp rise in consumption of meat than ever before. Indians are shunning their religious taboo about consuming beef, as diets change and hygiene improves in the processing industry.The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says Indians' per capita consumption of meat is running at 5.0 to 5.5 kilograms (11 to 12 pounds) a year, the highest since it began compiling records, reflecting a wider taste for protein-rich diets in developing countries. 

Experts say strong economic growth, which has led to increasingly affluent, better-travelled consumers, is partly the reason for the rise, leading to new opportunities for supermarkets and restaurants to cater to more varied palates.
"Indians are losing their inhibitions and getting adventurous," said Jaydeep Mukherjee, executive chef at Indigo Delicatessen, one of Mumbai's most popular foreign cuisine restaurants.
"Beef (buffalo) and pork steaks are regular favourites," he told AFP.
The fine-dining restaurant, which prides itself on its Reuben sandwich with pastrami, is now scouting for suppliers to source pheasant, quail and duck meat for its restaurants at the Phoenix Mills shopping mall and in south Mumbai.
"Meat consumption, which was once dependent on parental sanction, is going up rapidly with more liberal attitudes and greater Western influences," added Mohit Khattar, managing director of gourmet food chain Nature's Basket.
For Khattar, eating non-vegetarian food is no longer a luxury while the standard of domestic meat production has become more hygienic, improving consumer confidence.