In the village of Velikie Gulyaki, Kiev region, a snail farm of Alexei Antonkov is working. The farm exports its products to European countries.
In all European countries, except Malta and Cyprus, the collection of snails in nature is prohibited, as this negatively affects the environmental situation. Therefore, they are specially grown on livestock farms.
To achieve marketable weight, snails must grow for 5-6 months. During this time, they eat 1.5-2 kg of compound feed, in which they also mix fresh carrots and pumpkin. The snails are fed only organic vegetables, because the snail is sick and dies due to the “chemistry”. Shellfish are useful because they are an environmentally friendly product that is absorbed 100%, says Antonkov.
Nutritionists note the low calorie and nutritional value of snail meat. 100 g of snail meat has an average of 90 calories. Protein in such meat is even greater than in chicken egg. In addition, it contains vitamins A, B and valuable trace elements, according to nutritionist Eugenia Rozum.
As analyst Artyom Cherniy noted, since 2012 the number of companies that grow snails has significantly increased, and today there are already about ten of them. In addition to large ones, there are 15-20 small companies on the market. To grow snails, Ukrainian farmers buy young animals or caviar mainly in Poland.
The main producers and world exporter is Morocco. This state accounts for about 40% of all snail exports. The top three are closed by France and Indonesia. And the largest consumers are China and the EU countries, says Artyom Cherniy.The farm of Alexei Antonkov has already found several markets in the face of European countries - Italy, Spain and France.
