As chicken continues to be a more affordable protein option than beef, you can expect to see more foodservice establishments “substituting” chicken for beef, said Chris DuBois, executive vice president of Circana’s Fresh Foods practice.
DuBois spoke about protein price trends during the webinar, “What’s at the Center of the Plate This Holiday Season,” held on October 31 and hosted by CoBank.
The price of beef is now, DuBois said, at the top of the “price thresholds.” And with many consumers opting to eat at home instead of eating out for affordability reasons, that also creates a challenging environment for restaurants and other foodservice establishments.
“What’s driving the foodservice cost gap and what’s driving the retail piece? It’s really all about the cost of a meal,” said DuBois. “If you go to McDonald’s, it’s not cheap. If you go to Panera, it’s not cheap.”
Some restaurant businesses are thriving, DuBois said, while others such as Red Lobster, have filed for bankruptcy.
The restaurants that can make menu adjustments -- such as relying less on more expensive proteins like beef and more on less expensive proteins like chicken -- are often the ones that do well financially.
“A lot of times you’ll see proteins being substituted. The Chicken Big Mac was not just a random experiment. That’s a way of substituting different proteins in that kind of drive a better cost of goods, in a sense. So more and more you’re going to see chicken substituted for beef at foodservice,” he said.
