
Artificial intelligence (AI) can improve the accuracy and speed of chicken nugget sorting during processing, increasing the profit and efficiency that goes into a product with growing consumer demand.
“This can combine a lot of processes at the plant, basically just taking all the trim and all the good cuts and sorting and grading at a very high rate of speed,” said Darrel Bolman, account manager, Laitram Machinery.
There is growing consumer demand for chicken nuggets, with numerous quick service restaurant (QSR) releasing their own take on the product. Most recently, Taco Bell has announced its new Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce.
Sales of frozen chicken nuggets in retail sales are also strong, reaching $1.1 billion in 2023 in the U.S.
Moving away from a manual process
With this growth comes shifting demand for “prime” whole chicken nuggets, as opposed to form products.
Processing whole chicken nuggets currently relies on a large workforce that separates chicken breasts from lower value trim, a manual process that can result in a 25-35 percent loss of high value products due to error, personal bias, subjectivity and fatigue. Poultry processing also faces challenges in high worker turnover.
“We can now allow the processor to either reduce their headcount or redeploy the personnel for other tasks in the plant,” Bolman added.
Automating this process, through AI and computer vision systems, could help reduce losses and improve efficiency. These systems separate and scan each piece of chicken using 3D imaging to assess how it should be sorted based on size, shape and weight specifications at speeds up to 4,200 pounds per hour.
“What we’ve been able to offer the processors the ability to recover those lost nuggets that are gone to the trim,” explained Bolman. “Given the volume of the processor, we’ve found that recovering nuggets in the range of 25 percent generally saves them or drive an incremental value of around $1.2 to 4.5 million a year.”