Poultry meat in the UK

According to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, 2012) annual consumption levels of poultry meat in the UK fell from a high of 29.3 kg per person in 2001, to a low of 25.9 kg in 2008 before recovering to 28.5 kg per person in 2011. The initial fall in consumption was generally attributed to intense media attention relating to methods of poultry production (Meikle, Reference MEIKLE2003). Broiler meat is the major component of poultry consumption per capita in the UK as it constitutes more than 80% of the volume.

The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board believes that the recent increase in poultry meat consumption in the UK is because it is low in fat and currently cheaper than red meats (EBLEX, 2012). Indeed, in 2011 the UK market for poultry products was worth £1,895m (DEFRA, 2012) with the majority of sales occurring via the major supermarkets. In the UK the whole broiler represents only 11% of the poultry meat consumed, the rest being cuts (31%) and processed products (58%) (Magdelaine et al., Reference MAGDELAINE, SPIESS and VALCESCHINI2008).

According to Hingley (Reference HINGLEY2008) consumers across Europe have become concerned about animal welfare and production methods and the UK consumer is no exception. The value that consumers attach to the welfare of animals is a reflection of the human satisfaction, assurance and comfort derived from believing that the animal has been treated in the right manner. The source of these feelings can be ethical, cultural or individual sensitivities but the result can be seen in the increasing importance that consumers attach to buying criteria such as quality labels.

There are several quality labels that are used in the UK including Organic Food, Red Tractor Farm Assurance, Free-Range, Freedom Foods and Protected Geographic Indication (a European Label). The Organic Food label assures high quality standards linked to environmentally friendly practices, type and quality of feed and high levels of animal welfare. Organic Food is a sustainable production system that meets the European Union Council Regulation 834/2007 which is the official legal standard within Europe (European Union, 2007). Freedom Foods is a farm assurance scheme operated by the RSPCA that attests to a high standard of animal welfare (RSPCA, 2013). The Red Tractor Farm Assurance system certifies high quality products based on a high level of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection (Red Tractor Assurance, 2013). The Protected Geographic Indication attests that products are linked with a geographic area within the European Union and thus subject to certain welfare regulations (European Union, 2006).

In recent times the poultry industry has been impacted by various food crises including BSE in cattle and avian flu. As a consequence, consumers have become interested in food provenance (Magdelaine et al., Reference MAGDELAINE, SPIESS and VALCESCHINI2008; Clonan et al., Reference CLONAN, HOLDSWORTH, SWIFT and WILSON2010) and product quality, country of origin, organic production and even waste (Foxcroft and Woodgate, Reference FOXCROFT and WOODGATE2004; Woodgate, Reference WOODGATE2006) have become important purchase criteria in addition to animal welfare. Indeed, Hall and Sandilands (Reference HALL and SANDILANDS2007), Hingley (Reference HINGLEY2008), and Clonan et al. (Reference CLONAN, HOLDSWORTH, SWIFT and WILSON2010) suggested that consumers are willing to pay more for superior product quality and welfare assured poultry products.

In the UK annual production levels of poultry meat have, to some extent, mirrored changes in consumption levels. Total poultry meat output declined from a peak production level of 1.57 million tonnes in 2001 to 1.46 million tonnes in 2009, due mainly to a significant decline in turkey meat output (DEFRA, 2012). Since 2009, both broiler and turkey meat output have risen to achieve production levels above 1.5 million tonnes. As this is set against a backdrop of high feed prices this trend would appear to indicate the strength of demand for home-produced chicken and turkey. In 2011, the UK produced 899 million broiler chickens, equating to 1.3 million tonnes of poultry meat, with net imports of 224,000 tonnes (DEFRA, 2012).

The broiler industry in the UK is vertically integrated, with a short supply chain which is concentrated within a few large companies which exert a high level of control throughout the chain (DEFRA, 2009). Unlike other agricultural sectors, the UK broiler industry is not supported by financial aid from the UK or EU governments and, as a consequence, is very much customer focused. The chicken value chain is characterised by full traceability, a high level of food safety, superior quality control, efficient planning and logistics, and high levels of research and development. The supply chain starts with a small number of primary breeders who produce grandparent and parent broiler stock and supply poultry producers with parent stock which produce fertile eggs that hatch and are reared on broiler farms.

In the UK there are around 2,567 broiler farms (Crane et al., Reference CRANE, DAVENPORT and VAUGHAN2011) and, on average, each farm holds around 69,500 birds per crop (Crane et al., Reference CRANE, DAVENPORT and VAUGHAN2010). Some 81% of units are intensively housed systems, 6% are free range systems, whilst the other units utilise unconventional housing and organic methods (Crane et al., Reference CRANE, DAVENPORT and VAUGHAN2011).

Market review

The information on which this paper is based is derived from a database originally established in 1997 (Jones and Parrott, Reference JONES and PARROTT1997). A review of the literature was used to inform the development of a research instrument that has been used to survey consumers at intervals during the intervening years. The primary, though not exclusive, focus for the research instrument is in-home consumption of poultry meat. The research instrument has evolved over time to reflect contemporary issues but in the 2012 version, which is the most recent, it focused on purchase patterns (Vukasovic, Reference VUKASOVIC2010; Sismanoglou and Tzimitra-Kalogianni, Reference SISMANOGLOU and TZIMITRA-KALOGIANNI2011), consumer perceptions (Charles, Reference CHARLES1975; Yeung and Morris Reference YEUNG and MORRIS2001; Kennedy et al., Reference KENNEDY, STEWART-KNOX, MITCHELL and THURNHAM2004; Vukasovic, Reference VUKASOVIC2009; Reference VUKASOVIC2010; Sismanoglou and Tzimitra-Kalogianni, Reference SISMANOGLOU and TZIMITRA-KALOGIANNI2011; Vukasovic, Reference VUKASOVIC2012), and the factors impacting consumer decision making (Kennedy et al., Reference KENNEDY, STEWART-KNOX, MITCHELL and THURNHAM2004; Vukasovic, Reference VUKASOVIC2010; Sismanoglou and Tzimitra-Kalogianni, Reference SISMANOGLOU and TZIMITRA-KALOGIANNI2011). A total of 3,000 questionnaires were delivered by hand to a cross-section of housing types at each survey round. A review of the most recent information entered into the database forms the basis of the remainder of the paper.

Purchase patterns

Data concerning the consumption of poultry meat is presented in Table 1. Of the 348 people who contributed to the 2012 review, 327 (94.0%) confirmed that they eat poultry meat.

Table 1

Consumption of poultry meat.

Data concerning the frequency of purchasing poultry meat is shown in Table 2. The modal purchase frequency for poultry meat was once a week, with 154 respondents (44.3%) buying with this frequency. It is interesting to note, however, that 73 respondents (21.0%) buy it more often, so that 227 (65.3%) of the respondents buy poultry meat at least once a week which confirms that it is a popular food with many people in the UK. This may very well be due to poultry meat being promoted as a healthy and nutritious food by the National Health Service of the UK (NHS, 2013).

Table 2

Frequency of purchase.

Data indicating the type of poultry meat purchased in the UK is presented in Table 3. Chicken was by far the most popular poultry meat in the UK with 328 (94.3%) of the respondents purchasing it, but turkey was also popular with 145 (41.7%) respondents regularly purchasing it, and a significant minority, 61 (17.5%) were also purchasing duck. However, only five (1.4%) of the respondents purchase guinea fowl and none purchased quail.

Table 3

Type of poultry meat purchased.

Poultry meat can be obtained from a number of sources, and data relating to the place of purchase is presented in Table 4. A total of 281 (80.7%) respondents buy poultry meat from the supermarket, making it the single most important outlet. The only other significant source appears to be the butchers with 92 (26.4%) respondents using this outlet. Patronage of other outlets appears low.

Table 4

Place of purchase of poultry meat.

Consumer perceptions of poultry meat

Data relating to consumer perceptions of poultry meat is presented in Table 5. The statements have been ordered using the respondents’ mean scores to aid interpretation. Essentially, the statements at the top of the list are those that respondents agree with more strongly while the statement at the bottom is the only one with which, albeit fairly mildly, they disagree.

The statement that respondents most strongly agreed with was “I am careful to cook poultry meat well to avoid ill health”. This may very well be related to the issue of salmonella in poultry which has been well publicised in the UK (e.g. Smith, Reference SMITH2009; Hope, Reference HOPE2012; DEFRA, 2013).

The respondents strongly agreed with the statement “I disapprove of poultry being kept inside all the time” which is an animal welfare issue. Such issues have become a lot more important for consumers in recent times and the data in the database reflect this phenomenon. In fact the respondents’ apparent strong agreement with the statement that “Free range poultry meat is tastier than intensively reared meat” is also probably linked to a concern for animal welfare. Further, the respondents’ agreement with the statement “I am prepared to pay more for meat with welfare assurance” at least appears to suggest a willingness to pay a premium in order to ensure the welfare of the birds. Interestingly, however, while the respondents indicate concern for animal welfare, they only weakly agree with the statement “My buying behaviour has changed in light of adverse publicity regarding poultry production” which suggests that it has not had much of an impact on shopping habits.

Over the last twenty years organic poultry production has been subject to varying fortunes and more recently the sector has contracted somewhat as consumers, impacted by the recession, have been less willing to pay a premium for organic products. However, the respondents apparent concern for animal welfare as well as their weak agreement with statements such as “I am concerned about antibiotic residues in poultry meat”, “The risk of consuming Genetically Modified (GM) material that has been fed to poultry is low” and “Organic poultry meat tastes better than other poultry meat” suggest that the underlying motives for buying organic remain, and as the economic situation improves, the fortunes of the sector may take a turn for the better.

A tendency for the respondents to favour UK poultry is revealed via their agreement with the statements “I look to buy British poultry meat”, “Poultry produced in Britain is the best”, and “The British Farm Standard on poultry meat shows it has been produced to the highest welfare standards”. This finding, however, is not surprising given the amount of country-of-origin research that suggests that most consumers across the globe have an ethnocentric tendency to favour domestic products and services (Zolfagharian and Sun, Reference ZOLFAGHARIAN and SUN2010).

A final issue into which the database provides some insight is that of waste. In the first instance it is somewhat reassuring that the respondents agree with the statement “Pack sizes are appropriate to my needs”. What is more interesting, however, is the fact that while the respondents agree with the statement “I always throw away the chicken left-over (carcass, bones etc.)” and disagree with the statement “I use left-over poultry meat to make stock” they also agree with the statement “I would prefer to buy poultry where I am assured that all the by-products will be used”. It would appear, therefore, that while they are prepared to waste poultry themselves they do not want others in the supply chain so to do which appears to be a case of “do what we say not as we do”!

Table 5

Perceptions of UK poultry.

Note: Don't know's omitted from mean calculation.

Decision factors

Data relating to the factors that impact the consumer purchase decision for poultry meat is presented in Table 6. The factors have been ordered according to their importance with the most important at the top of the list and the least important at the bottom.

In the first instance it is worth noting that, in rating all the factors of some importance, the respondents were confirming that they all impact the purchase decision for poultry meat in some way. It is, however clear that some factors are considered much more important than others. Thus, while factors at the bottom of the table, such as ‘Packaging’, ‘Producer name’ and ‘Retailing store’, do impact the purchase decision for poultry meat, the factors at the top of the table, such as ‘Use by date’, ‘Taste’, ‘Odour’ and ‘Texture’, play a much more significant role.

It is also interesting to note that the factors at the top of the table are either the main proxy for product quality (i.e. ‘Use by date’) or are actual measures of product quality (‘Taste’, ‘Odour’ and ‘Texture’). These factors are seen as more important than any of the marketing factors or of price and so it would appear, therefore, that the most important factors impacting the UK consumers purchase of poultry meat are technical indicators of product quality.

Respondents were asked about animal welfare but the statements ‘Welfare assurance’ and ‘RSPCA monitored assurances’ are located only mid-way in the table. This lends further evidence to the view that, while consumers wish animals to be cared for properly and will indicate this when asked about the subject out of context, when it comes to purchasing it is not such an important issue that it motivates them to seek these product guarantees.

Another interesting finding relates to ‘Country of origin’ which is rated by respondents as the fifth most important factor in the purchase decision for poultry meat. Clearly, country of origin is seen as an important factor in the purchase decision for poultry meat but it is not as important as the technical indicators of product quality. It appears, therefore, that consumers may be willing to compromise their preference for poultry meat originating in the UK in respect of higher quality poultry meat originating overseas.

Table 6

Factors impacting the purchase of poultry meat in the UK

Note: Don't know's omitted from mean calculation.

Recommendations

Although the longitudinal study which forms the basis of this paper focuses primarily on in-home poultry meat consumption and is yet to be extended to include out-of-home poultry meat consumption, the data presented in this paper permits the development of a number of recommendations. These recommendations relate primarily to the marketing of poultry meat in the UK and, as such, are intended to inform decision making of marketing practitioners, however they will additionally be of interest to policy makers, academics and others with an interest in the sector.

The first recommendation arising from this study is that marketing practitioners should seek to create, develop and enhance the competitive advantage of their poultry meat products in respect of all the factors impacting the consumers purchase decision, and they should give particular emphasis to aspects of product quality such as taste, odour and texture. In order to produce poultry meat of the standard required by consumers, managers should seek to develop rigorous quality assurance systems incorporating low tolerance levels in order to drive up standards. In addition, marketers should commission advertising and promotional material that emphasises UK origins of poultry meat as well as its high quality level. While acknowledging that UK consumers may obtain poultry meat from a variety of outlets, the fact that most people buy it in supermarkets suggests that it is apposite to recommend that managers of large suppliers base their supply chain strategies on this type of outlet. Finally, managers should work to ensure the welfare of their birds, but recognise that it is not the most important factor in UK consumers’ purchasing decision for poultry meat.