How to Grow Your Chicken Sales

Chicken: It’s what’s for dinner! The Cattlemen’s Association would have you think it’s beef, but beef consumption was down to an all-time low of 57.5 pounds per capita in 2012 and is down 39 percent over the past 36 years. Chicken’s popularity, on the other hand, continues to rise with the average person consuming 70 pounds of the poultry in 2012.

Part of America’s love for chicken stems from its lower fat content and healthier profile compared to beef. It is also a versatile protein that can be infused with flavor by grilling, roasting, frying or sautéing. Multiple menu options can be created by pulling out the tenders, cutting the breasts and dark meat into nuggets, and cutting off the wings. These delectable morsels can be prepared in many different ways, including hot and spicy, barbecue, honey Dijon, and many other spices and sauces that lend variety to a menu.

And chicken is not only for dinner. It satisfies all meals, as well as snack time and other in-between eating occasions. This is great news for convenience store operators because they can easily leverage their chicken inventory across all meal occasions and make an endless number of menu items by simply switching sauces, spices and coatings, or using different breads, cheeses and toppings for sandwiches, for example.

Convenience store chicken programs can expand well beyond fried chicken, although that might be one of the most popular offerings, particularly in the South and Midwest. Fried chicken is one of those programs that some operators claim is extremely profitable, while others give it the thumbs-down.

Whether your stores are in the Northeast, Midwest, South or on the West Coast, the type of chicken program that will succeed in your locations depends on the area demographics and competition, according to the foodservice experts on the Convenience Store News How To Crew.

“The best way to evaluate any program is to look at the regional tastes,” one How To Crew member said. “Take a ride and see what your population is spending their dollars on. Being different is great, but you don’t want to be too far from center because typical c-store customers have historically been late adopters.”

Quality and freshness are other key considerations. The age-old debate in the industry — frying raw chicken from scratch vs. preparing pre-cooked, pre-breaded chicken parts — will likely rage on. However, one thing most experts agree on is that handling raw proteins requires extreme vigilance to food safety standards and strong controls. For example, when raw chicken is brought to a store, it should be logged upon arrival, when it is cooked and when it is placed in the merchandising/holding cases for sale. Accurate time and temperature logs must also be maintained. If operators are up to the task, a from-scratch program can work in certain markets where there is high demand for authenticity and differentiation.

If fryers are used, operators should have thermometers on all of them to make sure the chicken is cooked to temperature, and temperature probes should also be on the holding cases to continuously monitor temperatures after the product is cooked and before sale. As with all foodservice programs, food safety training through ServSafe is important, and even more critical if any raw foods are handled in the stores.

Most industry foodservice operators opt for pre-cooked and pre-breaded chicken products, not only for food safety reasons, but also to ensure consistent quality and execution. The range of products includes nuggets, wings, tenders, bites, boneless breasts or patties, and fried chicken on the bone. America’s favorite protein can also be made into a mayonnaise-based salad, served on hot and cold subs, or put in wraps and sandwiches. It can even be used as a pizza topping, in Asian bowls or in breakfast sandwiches. The opportunities to expand chicken on the menu are endless.

Most of these items do not require frying and can be baked off in convention ovens and/or speed-cook ovens. This is another advantage of using pre-cooked and pre-breaded chicken products — one piece of dangerous equipment, fryers, can be omitted. Fryers require expert and careful handling, as well as proper venting, according to our How To Crew experts.

If operators do choose to fry their chicken from scratch, experts advise retailers to stay on top of ventilation and sanitation. “No one wants to smell like oil when they leave your store. Proper oil filtration (assuring clean oil) and ventilation are easy ways to make sure people do not leave with a bad impression,” one How To Crew member said. Investing in proper equipment for fried chicken programs is critical so that oil filtration is done continuously. “This also assures you will get the most out of your oil, which cuts down on cost and keeps quality fried items in play at all times.”

BUILDING CREDIBILITY

Without question, hot food programs in convenience stores are growing and chicken is a core center-of-the-plate offering that appeals to the majority of meat-eating customers. But if your program sales are slowing or you think your menu is losing sizzle, what are some tried-and-true ways to expand your chicken program and spike sales?

One important thing to do is focus on brand building, not just growing a few menu items, several How To Crew members recommended. Once operators move out of the beginner stages of foodservice and into hot foods, developing a brand name for the program and all the accompanying signage and packaging is a key way to build credibility, image, recognition and ultimately sales.

For example, if chicken is central to a c-store operator’s menu, the brand should reflect that, compared to another operator where chicken items are simply a few of many different offerings. “Both are OK and both can be successful. Just decide what you want to be,” and market the programs and concept branding accordingly, one retail expert advised.

Also, make sure your chicken is not generic. Spend time naming your menu items to give them some flair and identity so that customers know exactly what they’re going to get, another expert advised. For example, instead of chicken pizza, chicken wraps, chicken salad or chicken quesadillas, consider how much more appealing these names sound: Hot Wing Pizza, Italian Chicken Wrap, Waldorf Salad and Southwestern Chicken Quesadillas. In other words, be descriptive when naming menu items and focus on the brand you are building. When introducing new items, be sure to sample and train employees to talk up the item with customers.

Operators should likewise focus on packaging, which can help build the brand and ensure products are portable and easy to consume on the go. “For tenders, nuggets, gizzards and livers, think dashboard dining all the way. If your vision is immediate consumption, you must have boneless options for people driving, especially if you do not have seating,” one expert noted.

While chicken and other hot food programs can be a bridge to the dinner daypart, several experts advise steering clear of rotisserie chicken unless stores have phenomenal evening traffic or are located in rural areas with extremely limited food competition.