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Automation, market shifts drive broiler industry’s future
384 Plays5 days ago
Elizabeth Doughman, editor, WATT PoultryUSA and Poultry Future, and Brian Earnest, animal protein economist at CoBank, discuss how changing consumer behaviors fuel genetic, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and other emerging innovations in the broiler industry.
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Transcript
Introduction: Meet Brian Ernst
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to the Future of Poultry podcast series.
00:00:12
Speaker
Hello, I'm Liz Duffman, the editor of Watt Poultry USA and Poultry Future. In today's episode, my guest is Brian Ernst, animal protein economist at CoBank. Brian is one of our featured speakers at the 2025 Chicken Marketing Summit.
00:00:27
Speaker
scheduled for July twenty eight through 30th at the DeSoto Savannah in Savannah, Georgia. This one-of-a-kind event explores issues and trends in food marketing and consumer chicken consumption patterns and purchasing behavior.
Technology Adoption in the Broiler Industry
00:00:41
Speaker
Registration is now open at chickenmarketingsummit.com, and I'd like to encourage everyone to attend. Thanks for joining us today, Brian. It's good to talk with you, Liz, and look forward to Chicken Marketing Summit this year. What are the key factors that have driven the adoption of technology in the broiler industry over the years, and why is it considered essential for long-term success?
00:01:03
Speaker
I think if we break it down to maybe the simple things that folks aren't always thinking about on the the meat or poultry side of the business from a production standpoint, looking back to vertical integration. This is one of those kind of key elements, I think that the broiler industry not necessarily unique, but maybe allows the industry to be more innovative in terms of the structure. When we think about things like feed, production, genetics, and even like the end product that is delivered to the table at the end of the day, all of these, I think are facilitated by that vertical integration. and And what I mean by that is really the processor utilizes a network of growers, but they provide the chicks
00:01:48
Speaker
the feed and really use utilize that system in terms of the production to help them become efficient.
Efficiency and Consumer Preferences
00:01:55
Speaker
When we look at all of the protein segments, how would you characterize the broiler industry's interest in implementing new processing technology compared to the other sectors and why?
00:02:06
Speaker
This is really an interesting thing that I've it's taken ah an interest in over the last couple of years. We we attend a kind of, I'd say the major conference of the year for the production of chicken is really that IPPE, right? The International Production Processing Expo.
00:02:23
Speaker
You get to see all the new technology that's coming out and some of those innovations that are utilized throughout the processing sector. And I think the vision there for the industry in general is to continue to address the needs of both the consumer, but also evolve their own production methods. And this is one of those things that we we see in implementation.
00:02:46
Speaker
Over the last 10 years, we've seen build out of new greenfield plants in the United States. So these are brand new processing and further production facilities in the U.S. But in more recent years, probably the last Four years, we've seen higher capital costs, interest rates, higher labor, tighter labor availability. All of these things play into somewhat of a pause in terms of building out new processing capacity. And instead, the focus seems to be how do we work within the plants of putting in new new technology around the processing equipment or even further processing? And where is the focus there? And I think a lot of the focus in recent years has been
00:03:31
Speaker
With tighter labor supplies, how are we able to, as an industry, look at replacing some of that labor with processing equipment? And so there's been a big focus there.
00:03:41
Speaker
I think as well, when you look at the birds that are coming through the system, the industry has added about a pound overall on average over last eight years, I think, in that timeframe. These birds that are coming through the system are bigger, but the consumer may not necessarily be looking for bigger portions. Trying to figure out how to accommodate the portion size requirements of the consumer and utilizing processing equipment, DSI technology, that sort of thing, is something that I think is fascinating and being implemented at to more and more plants.
Future of Broiler Processing Technology
00:04:13
Speaker
What are some of the technological advancements specifically aimed at improving efficiency in broiler processing plants? And how will these help to scale production to meet larger bird sizes?
00:04:24
Speaker
I think one of those I just mentioned thinking about like a ah DSI cutter, for instance, something that takes a large format bird size and is able to portion one one way or another that that breast meat, in particular off the bird.
00:04:40
Speaker
ah in a size format that fits more uniformly with the consumer, what their desires are, but also specifications that along through the system. but If you're looking at a ah natural ah breast piece that's coming off of the bird that you you don't do any further process to it or any work to it, it's not always going to come out the same size. But What the specifications on the packaging are to meet those requirements may be a specific size. So, unable to get over that hurdle, the industry is is making a bigger piece and then sizing it down to ah specifications that either the the the retailer or food service entity is looking for or ifth might fit well in on a requirement.
00:05:28
Speaker
of a specific good or a specific size. i think that scaling, it provides two things. It gets us that portion size, I think, that the industry is looking for. You're also going to have trim. And it's one of those things that I think is is interesting in the marketplace is that wings, for instance, have become very popular over the last two decades with the consumer. But there's really only two wings or four portions coming off the bird that are are typically utilized. And so although the birds are growing bigger, you're still only getting two wings, right?
00:06:01
Speaker
To combat this or to try and accommodate that stronger demand around wings, the industry is taking a look at boneless wings, which are actually breast meat that is is formed in one way or another to still adopt to take that that flavor profile that the consumer is looking for on the traditional bone-in wings.
00:06:21
Speaker
In terms of consumer products, how are innovations in technology helping consumers meet the demand for more value-added products like ready-to-eat meals or pre-marinated chicken?
00:06:32
Speaker
Value-add is ah an interesting segment. I started my career in the retail side of the business about 15 years ago. And i think at that time, retailers were just looking at how to how do they position chicken in front of the consumer in in kind of new ways.
00:06:50
Speaker
And one of those was bringing the traditional, let's say chicken tenders to a format that that the consumer could get not only at restaurants, but also and bake. And it's in a par format or par fried format or fully cooked format.
00:07:08
Speaker
And i think that segment has really evolved. over the last 15 years, and now we're seeing things like kitchen appliances that are making these items easier to cook for consumers.
00:07:23
Speaker
For instance, I'd reference every once in a while that air fryers have become very popular with the consumer and they can bring that kind of restaurant type format for these breaded or par fried items, value added products, bring them into the kitchen.
00:07:38
Speaker
at home and really bring that kind of the taste, the flavor, the bite, a lot of the same profile that you're getting. And these items in particular, the the air fryers, very popular with the consumer to the degree that I read one article that said there's more air fryers and in kitchens in the United States than there are coffee makers. Certainly something that the chicken industry has, they're seeing that and innovating towards that have to provide ah instructions on the packaging even around air fryers. Certainly a piece of technology that the consumer is utilizing and it appears the industry is recognizing that and innovating towards that that desire of convenience that the consumer is looking
Brian's Favorite Chicken Dish
00:08:18
Speaker
for.
00:08:18
Speaker
Looking ahead, what role do you think automation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies will play in shaping the future broiler processing and what impact could these have on the industry's growth and sustainability?
00:08:32
Speaker
and When I think about the word sustainability, commonly refer to efficiencies in the system. Certainly things like automation and artificial intelligence. These are new new pieces of technology that various different industries are utilizing in a way that helps them become more precise if they can. There's, I think, ways that the broiler industry can use this in being more precise, but it may not always be beneficial and when you're Birds are coming to the processing plant. You're trying to hit a target, but you may encounter weather, snowstorms or heat of the summer. All all these things play into a bird that may not fit the size of the box that you're not necessarily targeting.
00:09:14
Speaker
Maybe helping to anticipate those sort of things, adopting this technology, brings the industry ahead. And there's still, I think, some efficiencies, some room to to scare out more efficiencies in the system through utilizing that sort of technology. But I think even up further up the supply stream, thinking about genetics and how that plays a role, and also on the feed side of the business, how veterinarians, dieticians are looking at the impact of say potentially a ah ah different feed editor something like that. Overall, i think these pieces of the technology just continue to advance the strong work that the industry has already done in being efficient overall.
00:09:56
Speaker
Since we're looking forward to the Chicken Marketing Summit, which is all about chicken consumption, i have to ask what's your favorite chicken dish to eat? Oh, that's a good one. Actually, i i don't know that I have a favorite. There's there's usually a barbecue chicken is is my favorite to to cook and and work with. And so I'll refer to my kids, both my boys. We we use a lot of kit chicken in the kitchen and they have recently become attracted to drumsticks for some reason. I don't know if it's just they get to Something to hang on to or what, but that's an item that has become commonplace in the Ernest household. Oh, I think that's great.
00:10:32
Speaker
So as we're winding up today, i is there anything else you'd like to add before we conclude? I'd just say I'm excited for the future. I've i've been alongside the industry for 15 years and seen I've seen a lot of developments take place in the broiler space.
00:10:48
Speaker
And it's a lot to keep up with as an analyst to try and day in and day out see what's going on in there. But it's, it seems like no shortage of surprises when I take a ah deep dive. And I always feel like I learned something
Closing Remarks and Summit Invitation
00:11:02
Speaker
from listening to my peers in the industry and and folks in other space, like the animal health space and other areas. Overall, looking forward to chicken marketing summit this year and the other events that help help folks in the industry with the knowledge that they need and equipping them with the tools they need to continue to work on ah an an innovative future.
00:11:23
Speaker
Thanks again, Brian, and thanks to you for tuning in. To hear more of Brian's insights and learn more about the consumer behavior and trends impacting today's chicken consumption, register to attend the event by visiting chickenmarketingsummit.com. For more episodes of the Future Poultry podcast, please subscribe on wattpoultry.com or wherever you access podcasts.