Chicken consumption to increase significantly for median world income group

Chicken meat consumption is often looked at through the lens of the richest part of the world, but that part of the world does not include the majority of the income group that will be buying much more chicken in the next few decades.

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Chicken meat consumption is often looked at through the lens of the richest part of the world, but that part of the world does not include the majority of the income group that will be buying much more chicken in the next few decades.

Chicken consumption for median income

Somewhere out there in the world there is a person, let's call him Joe, who earns the exact median world income. Out of all the seven billion people on the planet, Joe has the 3,500,000,000th highest income, a modest $1,500 per year. Median should not be confused with average. The average income on the planet, about $10,000 per year, is much higher than the median income because the average is brought up by people who make billions. Joe, just by coincidence, happens to have had the median income 30 years ago and will have the median income 30 years from now.  

Joe's chicken buying habits are important to the world chicken industry because Joe and those who earn a little bit more and a little bit less than Joe represent the sweet spot for the world chicken industry. Over the last 30 years, as world income increased and hundreds of millions of people escaped poverty, the consumption of chicken meat soared as people like Joe began to be able to purchase what had previously been an unattainable luxury: chicken meat.

Until recently Joe was consuming almost no chicken meat. In 1985 he earned $600 per year and consumed just three pounds of chicken. Joe is now consuming fifteen pounds per year. Joe and the two billion people close in income to Joe have been increasing their consumption of chicken meat at a rapid pace and there is every reason to believe the process will continue.

Purchasing power increasing significantly for this income group

In the next 30 years, Joe's real income is likely to double to $3,000. At that point not only will his consumption of chicken be higher but he will change the way he buys chicken. Up until now Joe purchased chicken from a live market. In 2045 Joe will be purchasing chicken that has already been slaughtered and chilled in a processing plant and placed for sale in a market.

Often the discussion about chicken meat is confined to the richest part of the world's population and their demand for further processed value added products. Joe and his income cohort will receive more attention in the future and energize the world chicken industry with their purchase of a lot of chicken. 

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