Belgian poultry consumption increased 5%

In 2008, the average Belgian consumed 9.52 kg fresh poultry meat. This represents a 5% increase in comparison to 2007, figures of the Flemish Bureau for Agriculture and Fisheries Marketing (VLAM) show.

Data was obtained by the market research bureau GfK PanelServices, keeping track of the food purchasing behaviour of 4,000 Belgian families for VLAM.

In value, the increase amounted to 9.2%, making the average spending money €65.50 per capita. One of the causes of these higher expenses are higher prices.

Buying numbers

The number of people buying poultry meat, has decreased slightly from 91.7 to 91 in hundred. The buying frequency, however, increased from 14.3 to 14.9 times a year. Within the category ‘poultry’, the percentage of ‘chicken’ grew as well, both in volumes as in expenses. The percentage is now 87.8%. This way, chicken has increased its market leadership in comparison to turkey and other bird meats.

Turkey

Turkey continues to loose ground – now having a volume percentage of 8.4%. Back in 2002, this was 12.9%. An average Belgian ate 910 g in 2008 and spent about €9.20 to turkey. The downward tendency for turkey has been going on for several years. In 2000, 57 in 100 families bought turkey at least once, last year this was only 44.

Sales of chicken parts and processed chicken has clearly been doing well over the last couple of years – processed chicken is gaining ground in comparison to entire chickens. In 2008, 73.5% of the total volume of chicken sales was in parts or processed form. Poultry is mostly bought through supermarkets.

GfK PanelServices