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The US food industry is accelerating its shift to chicken amid a decades-long decline in beef consumption, as businesses from meatpackers to grocers to fast food restaurants cash in on a trend towards high-protein diets and low-cost meat.
One of those businesses is Taco Bell, which despite being known for ground beef tacos, added a full line of crispy chicken dishes including strips and burritos to its menu this month.
In December, the Mexican-inspired fast-food chain introduced chicken nuggets, which it said were an “instant sensation” that “sold out nationwide in under a week”.
“Consumer response has proven crispy chicken is a powerful growth engine for us,” a Taco Bell spokesperson said. Now “nearly 95 per cent” of new dishes created in the Taco Bell’s Test Kitchen featured chicken, they added.
Taco Bell’s new menu items were part of a “broader shift to add chicken to menus” as market research showed cash-strapped consumers are limiting their spending to cheaper meats, said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research for Placer.ai.
“Chicken has been a driving force,” Hottovy said.
Chicken surpassed beef as the most popular meat in America in 2010, with the supply of broilers reaching a record high of 101 pounds per capita in 2024, according to the USDA.
The National Chicken Council, a trade group that represents producers and processors, forecasts that per capita consumption will reach another record high of 104 pounds this year.
Poultry is particularly popular with Gen Z and Millennials who “over-index” on ground turkey and chicken, while boomers and lower-income households over-index for ground beef and ground pork, according to a report by FMI, The Food Industry Association.
“In the past, you said ‘chicken’ and people thought of a dry chicken breast,” said Wesley Batista Filho, chief executive of JBS USA. “That’s not the case anymore.”
Gilberto Tomazoni, global chief executive of JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, lists three reasons for the chicken boom: “[it is] affordable, easier to prepare and healthier”.
A package of fresh chicken cost an average of $6.79 at US grocery stores in 2024, up less than 1 per cent from the year before, compared with beef’s 6 per cent increase to $12.03.
Poultry has also benefited from a resurgent public interest in high-protein diets sparked by the popularity of injectable weight-loss drugs. Doctors advise patients taking GLP-1s to increase their protein intake to preserve their lean muscle mass as they lose weight. Consumers typically considered chicken the healthiest protein option, even when it was breaded and fried, said David Portalatin, a food industry analyst at market research firm Circana.
“There seems to almost be a competition to see how much protein we can actually pack in food,” Portalatin said.
The food sector noticed the success of upstart chicken-focused chains Raising Caines and Wingstop, which market research firm Circana ranked as among last year’s best performing quick service restaurants.
Their growth pushed competitors to find new ways to invest in chicken products, Portalatin said.
McDonald’s reintroduced chicken strips to its menu in May and launched a new version of its Big Mac with chicken fillets instead of the beef patties.
Subway owner Roark Capital acquired the fast-food chain Dave’s Hot Chicken in a $1bn deal, the tender focused restaurant said this month.
Americans’ shift towards chicken could not have come at a better time for both restaurants and meatpackers, whose margins are under pressure from the rising costs of beef production.
JBS’ North American beef business posed a $112.9mn operating loss amid a shortage of calves. Chicken accounted for 71 per cent of the earnings of Brazilian meatpacker JBS over the three months that ended in March, up from 57 per cent a year earlier.
The boom has allowed JBS to cash in on cuts previous generations rarely ate.
“The leg quarters, the dark meats are really, really trendy right now,” Batista said, adding that those cuts were “almost a byproduct” 15 years ago.
The same trends have also driven sales at drive-throughs. Taco Bell owner Yum Brands expanded its chicken offerings at its Pizza Hut chain this year, introducing chicken sausage as a pizza topping and new meal deals for its boneless wings.
“The category continues to be a major growth driver for our business . . . ” a Yum Brands spokesperson said.
“Consumers can’t get enough.”
Additional reporting by Gregory Meyer in New York
