Optimal Locations for building new capacities in broiler mean production with the aim of reducing transportation costs in the production networks and distribution of chicken meat to the market

Chicken meat is an important source of protein supply in the household food basket. Therefore, planning for timely and adequate supply of this food product is very necessary and important. However, building new production capacity is a time-consuming investment that should be undertaken gradually based on the prediction of demand over time. The purpose of this study is to determine the appropriate locations for building new broiler farms to meet the demand for this product in the horizon 1415 with the aim of minimizing transportation costs in the chicken meat production and distribution network. To meet this aim, the new poultry farms have to be located in places where the meat demand in each city can be supplied from the nearest slaughterhouse and the live chicken produced by the poultry farms can be sent to the nearest slaughterhouse, using a transportation mathematical programming framework. Results of this study indicate that, to meet the demand for chicken meat in the horizon of 1415, it is necessary to create a new capacity for growing 113 million one day chicks in the country. Based on the result of this study, to complete the chicken meat production chain and minimize transportation costs in the chain, the new capacities should be distributed over 22 cities in 6 provinces, including, Khuzestan Razavi, Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Kerman, Kohkiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, And Hormozgan provinces.  These results provide good guidance for the policy makers and planners in developing new chicken mean production capacities in Iran. Also, the locations specified by this study, as the best places for building new capacities, can be used by financial institutions in financing poultry farms investment in the country. Thus, it is worth considering the results of this study by both policy makers and financial institution.