Consumers are demanding transparency in the food supply and food companies need to focus on providing answers about where food comes, according to a panel of top chicken buyers.
The panel representing national and regional grocers, quick serve restaurants with national and international operations and an online meal kit delivery company, assembled as part of the 2017 Chicken Marketing Summit in Asheville, North Carolina. The panelist tackled questions on how their companies and their customers feel about poultry industry transparency, antibiotics use and bird welfare.
The panelists were:
- Barry Barnett, serving as senior vice president of global supply chain and purchasing at Church’s Chicken at the time
- Leah McGrath, corporate dietitian at Ingles Markets
- David Rothmeier, manager of proteins and commodities at Chick-fil-A
- Rod Antolock, president of Harris Teeter at Kroger
- Stuart Blankenhorn, supply chain strategist for Blue Apron
Transparency, the consumer’s biggest concern
When asked what single issue will shape the future of the chicken industry, responses were colored by experience but uniform in identifying poultry industry transparency, or lack thereof, as the key matter.
Barnett and Rothmeier said the food industry as a whole needs to improve its response to transparency concerns. A sound response, Barnett said, will require the industry to speak with a common voice to educate consumers about where their food comes from and counter the torrent of false and misleading information.
Rothmeier said the industry must get out ahead of the activists by offering clear explanations of what happens in the poultry supply chain. Some parts of raising and slaughtering animals to feed the world will look bad for consumers, he said, but the industry should explain what’s going on rather than letting activists shape public perception.
Antolock said the grocery industry sees the challenge as satisfying a wide breath of consumer demands. Consumers want commodity, branded, free-range and antibiotic-free chicken products, and the grocer must decide how to satisfy everyone with limited space.
Wider demand is driven by primarily younger consumers seeking information about their food and making choices based on what they find. McGrath said consumers are prewired to see big as bad and be distrustful of the major food companies. She said it’s possible a lack of industry transparency contributes to that stigma, but food companies damage their industry by using negative claims – hormone-free, antibiotic-free etc. – and activist-driven purchase pledges to promote their products.
The industry must counter negative information, but plenty of opportunities still exist to share a more positive picture of poultry production, Antolock said.
Antibiotic reduction’s long term impact on the poultry industry
The panelists agreed antibiotic-free (ABF) is good in terms of pleasing consumers, but also represents a serious challenge to meet moving, activist-driven goals.
Providing ABF chicken is a competitive advantage for the industry, Blankenhorn said, and will continue to positively differentiate the product, and drive long-term growth, against pork and beef. However, the issue will likely never truly go away, as consumers continue to worry about non-existent hormones in meat. Meat for Blue Apron’s kits is raised without sub-therapeutic antibiotics, according to the company’s website.
Chick-fil-A is committed to serve only no-antibiotics-ever meat by 2020. Rothmeier said Chick-fil-A didn’t make its ABF decision based on science but rather customer demands. For his business, the customer is always right and they should be supplied what they are asking for. The industry’s transition toward more ABF production is proving the process isn’t as cost inefficient as predicted and farmers will continue to improve on the process with more time and practice.
Barnett offered an alternative perspective, cautioning against letting the marketing get ahead of the supply chain. The egg industry’s experience with cage-free eggs, he said, demonstrates how the industry can get trapped by a customer resolving to supply a product that may not be available or sustainably produced. If the industry isn’t ahead of the issue and educating consumers, the activists certainly will be. Food companies themselves must understand, and consider, whether or not a purchase pledge is realistic for its suppliers before acting.
McGrath expanded on the idea, asking the audience if the industry wants to follow consumers or lead them. Proactively addressing issues and educating consumers is an opportunity to set the agenda.
Animal welfare’s importance to consumers
While much attention, action and anxiety is directed toward the treatment of broiler hens, the panelists said the issue is import but isn’t a chief concern among the food company’s customers.
Blankenhorn said customers are concerned about welfare, but they lack knowledge about the issue. Rothmeier said Chick-fil-A does hear about welfare often and keeps documented welfare standards to increase its transparency about welfare. Barnett said the issue is not even on his customer’s radar screens.
Note: Barry Barnett is now senior vice president of global supply chain at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Chicken Marketing Summit 2018
Chicken Marketing Summit uniquely explores issues and trends in food marketing and consumer chicken consumption patterns and purchasing behavior. In addition to educational sessions, attendees have numerous networking opportunities to foster interaction between speakers and fellow poultry industry peers. Chicken Marketing Summit 2018 will take place at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Disney World in Orlando, Florida on July 22 -24, 2018.
A messaging opportunity in the pharmacy
Working with the store pharmacist, nutritionist or dietician could be the prescription for gaining more trust with consumers in the store. Antolock and McGrath said the most trusted person in the grocery store is the pharmacist and many customers come to them with questions about health and wellness.
Pharmacists aren’t necessarily trained on what’s going on with the 95 percent of the store, so Antolock said the opportunity exists for stores and food companies to better educate pharmacists and in-store health experts on the nutritional value of poultry, where poultry products come from, how birds are raised and why certain methods are used.
