How to improve chicken leg meat profits, reduce waste

By improving chicken leg meat harvesting techniques and focusing on marketing nutritional benefits, processors can increase profits and reduce waste.

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Carefully harvested thigh meat can be processed into a variety of presentations. | Marel
Carefully harvested thigh meat can be processed into a variety of presentations. | Marel

To maximize yield and profitability, poultry processors need to make every gram of meat count, and this includes leg meat.

In western markets, the lower value often associated with leg meat compared with breast meat means that not all of the broiler carcass meat will achieve the same return for processors.

However, by offering leg meat in presentations that align with today’s lifestyles, emphasizing its taste and nutritional qualities, and helping to foster a change in consumer perceptions, processors can seek to extract more value from the parts of the carcass that are too often considered secondary, delegates at Marel’s Poultry ShowHow, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, late last year, were told.

Varying popularity

Chicken thighs tend to have a slightly darker meat than breast meat, and are often seen as less attractive and less healthy. Yet there is little nutritional difference between breast and thigh meat, including protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, calories, sodium and iron. While the fat content in leg meat may be slightly higher, it keeps the meat succulent and aids taste.

And it is not always the case that leg meat is seen as second best year-round in mature western markets. Sales of legs rise during the summer months, meaning that consumers already have some interest in opting for leg meat, be it bone-in legs, drums or thigh fillets.

Leg meat, either on its own or mixed with other cuts, is already used in several products, including nuggets, patties and sausage, yet in addition to using leg meat as an ingredient, or selling it bone-in, there are several options that processors may want to consider.

Extending presentation options

Given the taste qualities of leg meat, there are ample opportunities for its use in strips, bites, popcorn, as cubes for skewers and — if carefully removed, flattened and portioned — leg meat can be coated and marinated, opening it up to a variety of innovative presentations, said Pieter Klaas Hopma Zijlema, Marel sales manager convenience.

Thigh meat steaks, for example, remain a niche in Europe, but in Asia, 85 percent of steaks and chicken burgers are made from thigh meat.

In Japan, for example, a thigh fillet can be twice the price of a breast fillet, and Asian cuisine can offer several examples to Western processors that could easily be adopted in markets where leg meat remains undervalued.

Sate is already widely known, however the Japanese skewer presentation yakitori and the deep-fried karaage, which sees thigh meat mixed with skin, are less well known, but could offer processors the opportunity to add value.

The difference between Asia and Europe and the U.S. may already be closing where leg meat is concerned.

A survey of professional chefs in the U.S. found that they much preferred to work with leg meat when preparing chicken dishes, while in Europe, the gap between the retail price per kilogram of breast and thigh fillet is closing, and in some markets is less than 10 percent. Interest in portioning thigh meat is thought to be growing particularly strongly in Eastern Europe, Finland, Romania and Spain.

Where catering to modern lifestyles is concerned, it is worth remembering that the average time that consumers spend preparing food in many markets has fallen dramatically, while an appetite for consuming restaurant-type foods in the home has grown.

Efficient processing

While there may be opportunities that processors are yet to fully explore, if a market for further processed meat is to be grown, it is important that processed yields are as high as possible in order to add value to the total operations of the plant, said Morten Dalqvist, Marel product manager portioning.

There are various ways portioning lines can be set up, for example ranging from a single portion cutter that can be scaled up to full-scale solutions integrated into the end of the deboning line. Similarly, there are a variety of options where coatings and heat treatments are concerned.

Green credentials

Making better use of leg meat may not simply be a case of improving processors’ bottom line, it may offer much broader benefits. As global demand for meat rises, it will be important to use all resources – including as much of the broiler carcass as efficiently as possible – and as companies’ green credentials come under greater scrutiny, efficient use of inputs and less wasteful outputs will become more important.

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