According to Earnest, the investments reflect the growing consumer demand for restaurant-quality chicken products at home. Consumer internet search trends show sustained interest in poultry products, with products such as chicken nuggets continuing to increase in popularity, he said.
How did we get here?
The increase in processing investments coincides with industry improvements over the last few decades, including changes in bird size and production efficiency.
Broiler production expanded significantly between 2014 and 2024, adding 780 million head annually, which generated 8.8 billion additional pounds of chicken over the decade. Average live weights increased by half a pound in the last ten years, Earnest explained.
Larger birds weighing above 7.75 pounds now represent 29 percent of weekly production, compared to eight percent in 2006. The 4.26-6.25-pound bird category dropped from 50 percent to 29 percent of total production during the same period.
Additionally, the focus on genetics has evolved significantly since the 1990s and is a primary reason that bird size has been able to grow over the years, Earnest continued.
Even though production efficiency has improved overall, regulatory constraints have limited processing line speeds in poultry plants. “In the U.S., line speeds are restricted to 140 birds per minute. Some plants have waivers that allow them to operate up to 175 birds per minute,” he stated.
Attend the 2026 Chicken Marketing Summit
The 2026 Chicken Marketing Summit will be held at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, on July 27-29, 2026. Serving a unique cross-section of the chicken supply chain, the Chicken Marketing Summit explores issues and trends in food marketing and consumer chicken consumption patterns and purchasing behavior.
Registration will open in Spring 2026.
