"DARK" IS BEAUTIFUL-NEW TREND IN CHICKEN MEAT MARKETING

Psychologically humans have a preference for any thing that is white and this weakness is exploited to the hilt by the business community. One could recall the famous "Tinopal" which was promoted precisely to capture consumer interest as this cleansing product was supposed to make white cloths whiter! Similarly Chlorine bleach is very popular because of its ability to whiten cloths during laundering. Look at the"fair" creams being marketed to day that promise making the user look like a fairy angel In the food field white color is associated with purity and a product like milk has to be absolutely white for the consumer to accept. The UHT technology is evolved because of its ability to retard Maillard reaction that would take place during exposure to high temperatures for long time, creating hues of brown color in the product. Of course other colors also play specific roles in the acceptability game. When it comes to chicken meat the trend so far has been to demand white breast portion while the darker thigh meat was commanding least attention from the consumer. Now comes the news that a new trend is emerging where consumers are showing increasing interest in darker meat cuts, probably because of its promotion aggressively during recent times. Here is a take on this paradigm shift in consumer behavior which provides interesting insight into the role played by advertisement blitzkrieg by the industry for creating demand for a product that did not exist earlier!   

"Dark meat is growing in popularity as consumers figure out that the least expensive part of the chicken is also its tastiest. "It was always the least expensive protein that you could buy, but it had the most amount of flavor," said Pat LaFrieda Jr of the Food Network series "Meat Men." The poultry industry used to have trouble finding a market for dark meat, but changing domestic tastes and growing exports to countries that prefer leg quarters are pushing up prices and helping pull the poultry industry out of a deep slump. Poultry industry experts agree TV food shows are helping to spur demand as chefs talk up dark meat and give home cooks new ideas. Dark meat is more forgiving than white and doesn't dry out as easily, La Frieda said, so thighs are great on the grill, while ground dark meat works well shaped into burgers, stuffed into ravioli or stirred into a Bolognese sauce and served over pasta, he said.

One of the reasons for preferring white meat may be because of the association of white meat with less damage to health and the dominating belief that white meat is relatively safer for regular consumption. It is true that white meat from fish is not only liked for their taste and flavor, the fat content in this food source is considered highly healthy providing protection against a host of diseases including CVD. This should not be confused with the white meat from chicken because the saturated fats contained in this meat can be injurious when regularly consumer. For Americans who love "grilling" of meat where it is literally burned, as a social activity should not be bothering about slightly darker thigh meat from chickens and therefore the new trend should not come as a total surprise! 

V.H.POTTY

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