Consumer demand for eggs in the U.S. isn’t likely to decline anytime soon, at least not according to the Nielsen Homescan Panel survey conducted in April 2017. Meagan Nelson, associate director of the fresh growth and strategy team for the Nielsen Company, told the audience at the Chicken Marketing Summit, July 22-24, 2018, in Orlando, Florida, that of the U.S. consumers surveyed, only 5 percent reported an intention to buy fewer eggs in the future. Fourteen percent said they planned to buy more eggs in the future, while 78 percent said their future egg purchases wouldn’t change. Consumers don’t always act on their self-reported purchase intentions, but these survey results are still good news for egg producers.
Nelson also reported that for the 52 weeks ending June 2, 2018, U.S. retail shell egg sales increased by 1.3 percent in volume and 13.2 percent in value to US$5.2 billion. In the same time period, the retail sales of food items with egg as an ingredient increased in volume by 0.2 percent and in value by 1.6 percent to US$27.3 billion.
In other presentations at the Chicken Marketing Summit, which is produced by WATT Global Media, poultry marketers, retailers, food service outlets and processors all stressed the increased importance to consumers of transparency about how food is produced. While not every consumer insists on knowing the where, when and how about the food items they purchase, enough do to make this information an important part of every poultry company’s marketing program.
One theme that was repeated often by the speakers was that poultry marketers can no longer stay silent on how their products are produced, doing so only lets non-governmental organizations and activists fill the information void.
Join us in 2019
The 2018 Chicken Marketing Summit was hosted July 22-24 at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World. Included in the record attendance at the 2018 Summit were attendees from 11 countries. The 2019 Chicken Marketing Summit will be held July 21-23, 2019, at the Belmond Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina.
