Retailers flock to promote quality-assured chicken

ABOUT 400 retail outlets are taking part in a nationwide campaign to encourage consumers to look for the Bord Bia quality mark when buying chicken.

The poultry industry, along with Bord Bia, yesterday launched the inaugural campaign to increase public awareness of the quality assurance scheme.

A recent Bord Bia tracking study undertaken by Milward Brown IMS with 1,200 grocery shoppers showed that origin is a major influence when it comes to buying chicken.

Eight out of 10 shoppers surveyed indicated a preference for chicken with the Bord Bia quality mark.

The Irish consumer on average will eat 29kg of chicken a year.

About 65% of all chicken is purchased at retail level with the remaining 35% consumed in the food service sector.

Three-quarters of all chicken produced in Ireland is consumed on the domestic market, with the remaining quarter exported, primarily to Britain.

Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter welcomed the initiative from the poultry industry to position quality assured chicken as a premium product with full traceability in outlets countrywide.

Irish Poultry Processors Association chairman Vincent Carton said there are more than 450 producers and six big processors participating in the Bord Bia Poultry Quality Assurance Scheme.