People & community

The consumer

Poultry is so commonplace in our diets that it often gets taken for granted. As consumers we never see past the supermarket to the industry that supplies one of the nation’s favourite foods.

Almost half of meat eaten in the UK is poultry meat. So one in two meals consumed in this country with meat in contain poultry, be that chicken, turkey, duck, or goose. That’s quite a responsibility for an industry to live up to 365 days a year.

Any industry is only as good as the demand for its products. Over recent years we consumers have demanded more and more from the food we eat, and the poultry industry has responded. We want healthier food, more convenient and less complicated food that delivers the eating experience we want. Most of all we want all this at an affordable price.

What the poultry industry provides is choice and value for money. The free-range and organic markets are growing steadily but still only account for around 6% of total poultry meat produced in this country.

There are over 24 million households in the UK, and in the vast majority of them price is a key driver, but not the only one. The poultry industry has had to consolidate and improve its efficiency to be able to change in line with consumers. Price is one constituent of the mix, and choice is another. The poultry industry prides itself on value, variety, and quality.

The employees

The UK poultry industry employs around 55,000 people in locations all over the country, and on all sorts of sites. Everything from farmers to butchers is covered by an industry that encompasses the majority of the ‘farm to fork’ principle of food production.

The process to bring poultry to the shelves involves a vast infrastructure, and a huge number of people committed to the products they help provide.

Did you know?

On average everybody in the UK eats over 23kg of chicken every year.