"Consumers want to save money, but they don't want to buy just anything. They are looking for value; and it is not always determined by price," said Michael Sansolo of Sansolo Solutions consulting company, who spoke at the Food Media Seminar (US) in April, sponsored by the National Chicken Council and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

"Taste still trumps price in importance when shopping," he said. A NCC survey, he said, showed that taste was rated as 66% in importance while price was at 61%. He added that, "Chicken seems to be where people are going to spend money," noting that the survey found the shoppers, in the next six months, plan to buy 25 more chicken than beef, fish or turkey. However, he said, if the price of a certain commodity goes up, consumers will change their purchase plans.

There is a trend in value-added and ready-to-eat products. Today, 16% of value-added packages are chicken; and 44% (leading share) of heat-and-eat products are chicken. Also in the line of packaging, consumers are paying more attention to nutritional concerns in foods, particularly the amount of total fat, calories and sodium a product contains.

Claims of products labelled "natural" are also another trend. "Natural is where the action is," Sansolo said. "It's a phrase that hits home with consumers."