Chicken breasts fly out the door

New Zealanders’ appetite for chicken breast meat has soared, as poultry eclipses mince as our preferred protein.

The Foodstuffs chain, which comprises New World and Pak’n Save supermarkets, has released data from its butchery departments showing that boneless chicken breast sales have almost doubled in the past decade and it is now its biggest-selling specific butchery product.

While the combined varieties of beef mince (prime and premium) still pip breast sales in Foodstuffs stores, combined sales of boneless thigh meat with the boneless chook breasts gives the poultry category a clear first-placing as Foodstuffs’ most popular animal protein; and that’s without including bone-in chicken cuts.

The Progressive-owned Countdown chain announced in February that chicken cuts generally had overtaken mince in its butchery departments, too.

Foodstuffs’ data showed that in its South Island stores boneless, skinless breast sales had gone from 4.15 per cent of total butchery sales in 2007-08 to 7.67 per cent in 2016-17. That was well ahead of the next biggest product, prime beef mince, at 4.97 per cent of total sales. Foodstuffs said the South Island trend was reflected in the north.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand chief executive Rod Slater said the surge in chicken meat sales was price driven.

‘‘Chicken breasts are produced very cheaply in this country and are commodity driven; as a result it’s overtaken mince.’’

Poultry Industry Association New Zealand executive director Michael Brooks cited a range of factors for the chicken breast’s popularity including cost efficiency, convenience and adaptability.