Traditional birds remain popular as some operators call out new flavors and other attributes
February 21, 2019
Rotisserie chickens have been spinning around in retail delis like clockwork for decades, reliable traffic drivers that were on the leading edge of supermarket prepared foods.
Lately, however, a few key players in the category have been seeking to shake things up. After Amazon completed its acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017, one of the first actions the company took was to lower the prices of the retailer’s rotisserie chickens.
Meanwhile Costco Wholesale Corp. is in the process of creating a captive chicken supply chain for its extremely popular, low-priced rotisserie chickens. The retailer formed a new company, Lincoln Premium Poultry, based in Freemont, Neb., which is assembling a network of farmers to supply the membership club’s chickens in the Western U.S., beginning this fall.
For now, rotisserie chickens continue to rule the roost among cooked meats in the supermarket deli/prepared foods department. The products generated nearly $1.5 billion in sales (not including Costco’s high-volume program) in 2018, according to Nielsen. That represented growth of 4% in dollar sales over 2017 results, while pound volume grew at a 1.2% rate.
Although the expansion of supermarket prepared foods into other cooked meats has resulted in a share decline within the category for rotisserie chicken, it remains a powerful leader for many operators. Some operators have also tried merchandising other rotisserie meats alongside rotisserie chickens, with mixed results.
“I think rotisserie chicken has staying power,” said Sarah Schmansky, Nielsen's VP of fresh growth and strategy. “It definitely has continued to show pretty good growth in a very stagnant environment.”
Retailers regularly introduce new flavors into their rotisserie chicken lineup, such as barbecue, lemon pepper and others, but many say traditional flavorings with familiar herbs and spices remain the most popular. Increasingly, operators are also calling out attributes that consumers are seeking from meats overall, such as antibiotic-free or organic.
Whole Foods — which has been introducing a few new flavors periodically — has remained focused on providing a product that meets its standards for animal welfare and other attributes.
“Both organic and conventional rotisserie chickens continue to be bestsellers in the prepared foods department at our Whole Foods Market stores,” said Barry Locker, senior category leader on Whole Foods’ global culinary team.
The organic rotisserie chickens — priced at $9.99, compared with $7.99 for traditional — “meet the same strict quality and animal welfare standards as the fresh meat in our meat case,” he said.
“We know that transparency is important to our shoppers and is a growing food trend among consumers,” Locker said. “Our customers appreciate that we go the extra mile with third-party certifications for animal welfare with partners like Global Animal Partnership and their 5-Step Rating Program, and that the food we sell is free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors and sweeteners.”
Convenience drives sales
Operators say merchandising the birds in a visible location that makes it easy for shoppers to grab them on the run is essential to the rotisserie chicken program.
“Convenience is key,” said Wilifredo Aragon, manager of deli for Food City, one of the banners operated by Phoenix-based Bashas’. “It’s a hot, delicious and ready-to-eat product that we place in easy-to-grab locations in the stores.”
In addition to its traditionally flavored chicken, Food City also recently introduced a new flavor — Chile Verde Rotisserie — which has been a hit with customers, he said.
At Bashas’ flagship banner, the traditional rotisserie chicken remains the most popular, said Mona Gonzales, manager of Bashas’ delis.
“Our chickens are so good, we barely even need to season them,” said Gonzales. “Rotisserie chickens are in high demand. Our traditional bird is still king, and we have not heard too much interest in … other flavor profiles.”
At Bashas’ most upscale banner, AJ’s Fine Foods — which was voted to have the best rotisserie chicken in Phoenix in a recent poll — “demand is definitely holding steady,” said Karissa Baldonado, AJ’s bistro manager and chef. “People are always going to be busy, and our chickens are a delicious, easy option for a quick and healthy meal.”
She said AJ’s merchandises the rotisserie chickens in a hot case right next to where it offers chef-prepared hot meals and near the cold case that holds fresh salads.
“This provides great convenience to our customers for meal planning to pick up a whole meal all in one shot,” she said.
Baldonado said customers respond well to new rotisserie chicken flavors when they are introduced, but the chain tends to rely on its traditional offering, seasoned with herbs and spices and roasted for almost two hours.
“Sometimes a classic original flavor is the best, and why mess with a good thing?” she said.
Promoting protein
While rotisserie chicken has been a relatively stable, reliable performer for food retailers, there may be opportunities to drive incremental sales in the category.
One option could be to capitalize on consumer interest in protein, said Sarah Schmansky, VP of fresh growth and strategy at Nielsen.
Consumers are scouring the retail store for proteins in other categories, but they may be overlooking the natural sources of protein in the meat and deli departments, such as rotisserie chickens, she said. Retailers could benefit by helping clear any confusion consumers might have about how to best add protein to their diet.
“We've done research around the fact that consumers think that two tablespoons of peanut butter have more protein than a chicken breast, which obviously is not correct,” said Schmansky.
In addition, rotisserie chickens often yield leftovers — and retailers may have an opportunity to help their customers make the most of those leftovers, both to reduce waste and encourage more sales of the birds.
“I think there's an opportunity to help the consumer use every piece of that chicken so that we aren't wasting as much,” said Schmansky.
One strategy retailers have used is to merchandise mayonnaise near the the chickens to encourage its use in making chicken salads, she said, but there may be more that retailers can do in terms of providing tips and recipes that help customers put the whole bird to good use.
At Bashas’ in Phoenix, the stores seek to make full use of any leftover rotisserie chicken in the stores by incorporating it into other deli offerings, such as chicken noodle soup, chicken enchiladas, pot pies and other dishes.
“We also take convenience a step further and shred the chicken to sell by the pound for our customers to use in their own kitchen creations,” said Mona Gonzales, manager of Bashas’ delis.
