Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 7/12/16

U.S. chicken consumption remains high with 2016 levels surpassing those of the previous two years, according to new research presented Monday, here at the 2016 Chicken Marketing Summit.

In the two weeks leading up to the survey, 87 percent of consumers ate a chicken meal or snack purchased from a supermarket and 72 percent ate a chicken meal or snack from a food service establishment, according to a survey commissioned by the National Chicken Council and conducted online among more than 1,000 adults by ORC International in early June. Funding for the research was provided by Elanco and WATT Global Media.

Among those buying chicken at retail, the purchases were up 2.4 percent, even with 2015’s figures. Among consumers ordering chicken dishes at foodservice, purchases were up 7.5 percent from 2015 levels, the research showed.

In fact, based on the project increase in consumption, white meat purchases look to top red meat purchases for the first time in 2016, the survey indicated. Looking ahead, 21 percent of consumers said they expect to eat more chicken from the supermarket and 14 percent expect to eat more chicken when they dine out.

Satisfaction
As part of the survey, consumers were asked to rank various factors on satisfaction and in order of importance. Regardless of purchase channel, freshness, taste and price rise to the top for both measures, ranking far ahead of “how chickens are raised” and “size of an individual piece” when measuring satisfaction.

When it comes to sources of information, conventional sources such as the government (55 percent), grocery stores (43 percent), farmer/growers (40 percent), butchers (39 percent) and brands (38 percent) are preferred. The appeal of sources such as blogs and celebrities are more limited.

Trust is also a point of differentiation. Supermarkets garner reasonable levels of trust and, along with brands, comprise the second tier of desired sources of information behind the government.

AB-free
Consumers were asked if various claims would increase, decrease or have no impact on their likelihood to purchase their favorite chicken products. Overall, when asked to choose among various claims, consumers are most interested in knowing that no antibiotics were used in production of their food. As seen in last year’s survey results, also of interest is understanding where chicken comes from — products labeled as locally raised or indicating country of origin on the label were the claims most likely to pique interest.

Antibiotics use in the poultry industry is “polarizing,” said Del Holzer, director of the Meat and Poultry, Global Food Industry Team for Elanco.

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