The love for white meat is undeniable, and chicken reigns supreme as the archetypal white meat. In the Americas, poultry meat consumption is well above the global average. In fact, the average poultry meat consumption per person in North America is about four times larger than the rest of the world’s average.
Big names for the largest poultry companies in the US include the likes of Cargill Meat Solutions, Hormel, Pilgrim’s, Sysco Corp, Tyson Foods, to name a few. I am not even mentioning hundreds of chicken restaurants.
According to a recent study by Statista, the projected global consumption of poultry meat amounts to 144.87 metric kilotons by 2029. In another report, this time by Poultry World, the global poultry market increased by 6% to US$ 231.5 billion.
Furthermore, the countries with the highest volume of poultry consumption in 2019 included China (20 million tons), the USA (19 million tons), and Brazil (12 million tons). Moreover, countries with the highest levels of poultry per capita consumption included Malaysia (63kg/person), the USA (58kg/person), and Brazil (57kg/person).
In light of this information, let’s take a quick look at some of the top chicken related food trends for 2021:
1. Animal Welfare Awareness
As people are becoming more aware of how unhealthy animals can lead to the development of diseases and the spread of viruses in humans, interventions are being made to keep animals healthy. This directly plays into animal welfare strategies that protect them from being injured or harmed along with keeping them healthy. Some common diseases in chicken that can affect humans include:
- Avian Influenza – people who work closely with large numbers of birds are more likely to get infected.
- Campylobacteriosis – people can get infected if they don’t wash their hands after touching animals, equipment, or its food, habitat, pens, and poop.
- Coli – spreads through contaminated food, infected animals, or the environments.
- Salmonellosis – infections spread after handling poultry with symptoms including abnormal cramps, diarrhea, and fever.
2. Continued Demand for Antibiotic Reduction
It is a known fact that many poultry farms end up overdosing their animals with antibiotics to fight back diseases. However, their continued use has resulted in antimicrobial resistance.
Government regulations and consumer concerns surrounding the topic will continue to drive animal producers to further facilitate efforts that can help reduce antibiotics from production. The good news is that in places like North America, 50% of poultry meat sold is already antibiotic-free.
Furthermore, many companies are also supporting this trend by investing in the development of new additive solutions. Hence the right move forward would be the identification of non-antibiotic alternative to enhance growth performance and ultimately reduce the need for antibiotic intervention altogether.
3. Emphasis on Sustainability
Apart from keeping animals safe and clean so that they don’t spread diseases in humans, there is another rising consumer trend that demands ethical production and sustainable business.
As people are becoming more familiar with climate change, global warming, and reducing their own carbon footprint, there is a demand from the consumer end to make businesses adopt ethical production standards and deploy sustainable business operations that reduce the impact on the environment.
Through continuous innovation and ensuring best practices, poultry farms today produce 50% less impact on the environment as compared to those run in 1965. However, there is still room for greater improvements.
4. Demand for New Flavors
It is human nature that if we really like something, we end up desiring more of it and introducing new varieties to try out for ourselves. Likewise, chicken food items are getting outrageous flavor redesigns.
Nowadays, with our taste preferences becoming more sophisticated, consumers want to turn up the heat and find new adventures through the use of incredible flavor pairings.
An example can be taken from a recent case study that found the demand and online traffic for spicier dishes and savory experiences rising in 2020, with Cajun Chicken Pasta recipes as the most demanded on Pinterest.
5. High Protein Snacks
People and consumers worldwide are also becoming more aware of their snacking habits, which is why many of them are shifting to a high protein diet. Young ones who are looking to lose weight find eating proteins a way to make them feel full, leading to the consumption of fewer calories overall in a day.
When it comes to chicken, it is a known fact that the chicken’s breast most commonly consumed food. The breast is the leanest part of the chicken’s body, and 85 grams of the roasted, skinless chicken breast offers around 27 grams of protein and only 140 calories.
6. Popularity of Online Grocery
With the pandemic forcing many of us to stay inside our homes to keep social distancing measures intact, the movement of consumers taking their monthly grocery needs online flourished.
Many of us, if not all, have become quite familiar and comfortable at times with shopping for food items online. Chicken is no different, and in many cases giving preference to greater convenience and safety is the right way to go about it.
For the meat market sector, online shopping will continue to increase along with everything else that we buy. This trend will further act as an accelerator for new technological developments such as big consumer data and the implementation of AI, blockchain, and smart farm technologies.
Even pupils that are into academic services often find themselves ordering delightful chicken food items online when they don’t feel like cooking a meal at home.
7. Restaurants Purposefully Focusing on Chicken
Many restaurants are intentionally increasing offerings the centre around poultry, seeing and observing how chicken is being favored over other popular choices. If you only look at the American people, fried chicken is a staple, with KFC alone selling 60 million buckets of chicken in the US every year.
Plus, who can forget the incredible success of Popeye’s launch of a new fried chicken sandwich that got sold out in just two weeks across the system?
From small to big players, chicken offerings on the menu are a safe strategy to dominate the market. At First Class Dissertation, young learners are always advised to eat healthily and opt only for safe and hygienic food.
8. Social Sharing of Recipes
The Millennials is one generation that simply cannot get enough of social media in their lives, and Generation Z is not that far behind. When it comes to classic meat and cheese recipes, there is abundant creativity and social sharing that is going online as we speak.
In fact, in many instances, meat is often introduced into breakfast delights that one simply cannot wait to try out for themselves.
You can also find many social media-inspired charcuteries that offer numerous chicken items like appetizers, burgers, nuggets, and sandwiches, to name a few. In fact, some food lovers have already written and sharing about the best chicken recipes that you can try out this year in 2021, which you can easily find online.
9. US Popular Chicken Chains
While debating which chicken dish, item, meal, recipe, or snack type is most consumed can serve to be an overhaul and never-ending debate, here are some of the top chicken chains operating in the US:
- Chick-fil-A
- KFC
- Popeye’s
- Zaxby’s
- Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
Conclusion
Do people like to eat chicken? You bet they do, and the Asia-Pacific region is quickly becoming one of the biggest poultry markets in the world.
We find international food chains and restaurant franchises bringing people their favorite flavors of chicken in all forms, shapes, and sizes all over the world. White meat is part of the global staple diet, whether you like it or not, and it is here to stay.
Even though plant-based alternatives to meat are underway, but under the current circumstances, the production cost is still too high in order to become a viable solution. Till then, I say let’s dig into the juicy chicken breast you can buy almost anywhere in the world and Bon Appetite!
Author Bio
Melissa Calvert currently works as a devoted Lifestyle Counselor at Crowd Writer. This is where higher education students can acquire the best assignment writing service from experts specializing in their field of study. During her free time, she likes to surf the internet to try out new and easy to make recipes of scrumptious meals for her loved ones.
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