October 10, 2003

Necessary Restoration of Image of Britain Poultry Industry

Market analysts reported that Britain's poultry industry could become a niche market for home producers unless drastic action is taken now.

This would involve in-depth analysis of shortcomings in the home market and a high-profile marketing campaign to restore the image of UK production.

David Salkeld, the new chief executive of the Grampian Country Food Group, said the first thing industry leaders should do was visit leading retailers to find out how boring shelf presentations were of poultry products compared with other food products. Too much was tied to price promotions, such as "buy one get one free".

He continued: "The whole market is tied to deals which may be attractive to consumers but failed to do anything for the industry," he said.

Against an average of around 25-30% of the grocery market related to price, up to 70% of the chicken market was price dependent and this was increasing, he pointed out. Producers had to build in new industry targets, such as the rising demand for the "grey power" market and other value added sectors that has already been exploited by fast food producers such as the Colonel Saunders KFC products.