Dive Brief:
- Perdue launched two new fully-cooked chicken product lines: Flavor-Infused Chicken for meals and bite-sized Chicken Plus Snackers. The latter products blend chicken with a quarter cup of vegetables, including chickpea and cauliflower, per serving.
- The Flavor-Infused Chicken products — which come in Greek, Green Chili and Sesame Ginger flavors — are designed to be enjoyed with pasta or rice and veggies, the company said. Snackers are targeted to teens and parents looking to feed their children a nutritious snack.
- As demand for chicken has increased in recent years, producers are looking to take advantage in consumers’ ongoing interest in making meals at home, better-for-you products and snacking.
Dive Insight:
Consumers are trading down to chicken amid ongoing inflation as a less-costly alternative to more expensive meats like beef or pork. With its two new product lines, Perdue is taking advantage of consumption trends that emerged during the pandemic.
Flavor-Infused Chicken is created using a sous vide process, which the company said in a press release infuses high amounts of flavor into the protein. The products are designed for at-home cooking, which ballooned in 2020 as people spent more time at home. Though the pandemic isn’t impacting society as much now, the habits started three years ago have continued. In a survey from Taste of Home last summer, 60% of respondents said they cook at least five times a week, and 53% said they are looking for ways to make meal prep an easier process.
Snackers tap into an increasing desire for healthier and easier food options for the snack category. In a recent survey, Mondelēz International found 71% of people snack at least twice a day. According to 2021 research from ADM, a need for sustenance and health triggered half of all snacking occasions during the pandemic-era snacking boom.
The nutritious element of the chickpeas and cauliflower in the Snackers products allows the company to brand them as a better-for-you alternative. According to Perdue, consumers will only taste the chicken.
Snackers are the company’s latest addition to its Chicken Plus product line — blending chicken with chickpeas, cauliflower and plant protein — which debuted in 2019 in order to capitalize on the growing interest in plant-based protein. Perdue still sells Chicken Plus nuggets, tots and tenders, according to its website, but Snackers are the first product in the line to infuse flavors.
