What exactly is frozen chicken?
Frozen chicken is a specialty niche product that is usually sold directly to the consumer, such as organic, natural, grass fed, and so on. The birds are usually bagged and sold whole as broilers. Size is determined by market preferences. There is a lower market demand for items like:
- wings, drumsticks, breasts, thighs, and backs
- raw frozen chicken for the pet food industry
- Chicken livers, hearts, gizzards, and feet are among the specialty items available.
Why do you sell frozen chickens?
Frozen chickens are sold by producers in order to maximise the dollar return per bird. Farmers accept the marketing board’s price in the commodity market. Selling directly to consumers allows producers to set a price that covers their costs while still making a profit. Many consumers are willing to pay a premium for frozen chicken if they know and trust the producer’s animal management practises and products.
Frozen direct from the farmer is becoming increasingly popular among consumers because these products are:
- organic
- hormone-free
- lean
- free reign
- local
- raised on a working ranch
The purchase is motivated by value rather than price. Producers must understand what their customers want and why they buy. Is it for longevity, disease prevention, prestige, or because the producer’s business philosophy aligns with their lifestyle beliefs? The more benefits a manufacturer can offer their customers, the more valuable their product.
Farm direct marketing increases the producer’s income while providing the consumer with a product that is not commonly found in stores. One advantage of this type of selling is that some producers discover they enjoy and are skilled at both marketing and production.
Regulations
Understanding the regulations is the first step in selling whole frozen chicken. There are rules for selling any type of meat, including:
- slaughtering
- processing
- labelling
- handling
- transporting
- storing
- marketing
Compliance with regulations instils trust in the customer. It also provides producers with the assurance that they are doing everything possible to ensure a high-quality product. Understand and adhere to the rules.
Before being sold as frozen chicken, birds must be slaughtered and processed at a licenced, provincially or federally inspected abattoir. Only meat that has been inspected may be sold.
Best practises for food safety
Food safety is essential to the success of any agricultural enterprise. Farm direct poultry product marketers should:
- Use an approved on-farm food safety (OFFS) programme. More information can be found in the links section at the end of this factsheet.
- Establish quality criteria to ensure that every time a consistent, high-quality product leaves the farm gate. Service guarantees, product quality, and a food safety programme for production, processing, and marketing could all be included.
- Adhere to the recommended prerequisite programme. Prerequisite programmes provide the basic environment and operating conditions required for safe food production. Meat Facility Standards describes provincial prerequisite programme guidelines, while the Food Safety Enhancement Program describes federal prerequisites (FSEP).
- Inquire about each processor’s food safety programme. Choose a processor that has implemented the Food Safety Enhancement Program, Meat Facilities Standards, or another good prerequisite programme.
Delivering chickens to the processor
Take as many chickens for slaughter at one time as possible, particularly if the processor is some distance away. Putting an extra few ounces on a chicken won’t compensate for the extra time and fuel used delivering a few birds. If enough chickens are delivered, they may be the only ones slaughtered that day. It is more efficient for the processor to do a large number of chickens at once and this may allow the processor to pass some of the savings on to the producer.
Some processors provide a farm pick up and delivery service. If this service is offered, determine the minimum load size required to get the most value from the service. One thousand birds may fill a small truck, while a semi load might require 2,400 fryers or 1,800 bigger birds. Consider the hourly rate for each truck and the load size before booking the service. If the load is too small and the driver will be doing multiple pick-up locations, have other producers in the area make up the balance of the shipment.
If the processor is processing chickens for several producers on one kill day, be sure that the birds are clearly identified.
Pricing
Direct-marketed chicken is different than the chicken available in retail stores. Market its uniqueness. Remember, if it is not the same product, the price should not be the same either.
A profitable Frozen chicken trade requires the producer be very conscious of the cost of producing, processing and marketing the chicken. Include all costs, as well as an acceptable profit in the price. Producers who have never sold Frozen chicken should talk to those who have to get an idea of average costs. It is better to adjust a high price than lose money by pricing below cost.
The producer needs to be paid for the time and money put into:
- delivering the chickens to the processor
- relaying cutting instructions to the processor as per hearts, livers, feet and gizzards
- processing
- picking up frozen birds
- storing the product prior to sale
- phoning the customer
- delivering the order
- promotional materials
When people ask how much a chicken costs, they’re looking for a simple answer. To maximize profitability, producers should be their own middleman. Make the experience of buying and eating Frozen chickens enjoyable for customers and profitable for both producer and processor.
Make sure to price the hearts, livers, feet and gizzards as well as the frozen chicken. The demand for specialty products may be surprising.
Communicating with customers
Good communication with customers is critical. Talk to them, survey them and have a suggestion box. Listen to what they say. Find out what they want and whether they’re getting it. How big do they want their chickens? Will they buy the gizzards or livers? What else do they want that the producer can provide? Listen to what they say.
Develop a customer database to track customer orders and desired products. Maintain and use it. Use product draws and specials to expand the database. If a customer has a special request, do the best to provide it, as long as it is profitable.
Know who the best customers are. They are the ones the producer will contact regularly and may offer specials or new products to first. Producers and customers need to be able to find each other again. The producer should follow up with customers who are no longer purchasing from them to find out why.
Developing an order form that makes the order clear to both producer and customer helps communication and increases customer satisfaction.
Additional delivery strategies:
Selling chicken orders in portable styrofoam coolers with frozen bottled water as ice packs, adds value by keeping the chicken packages frozen for the trip home.
When delivering orders in the city, meet customers at a convenient location such as a parking lot at a shopping mall, or sell at the farmers’ market. A common delivery point can save hours of looking for hard-to-find addresses. It also gets the meat into the customers’ Frozens more quickly. If customers want delivery to their door, agree beforehand on a date, time and delivery charge.
When delivering the chicken, the packages should be neatly packed inside a new, clean box. Check each package before packing it into the box. Do not sell any packages that are damaged or dirty. If the abattoir doesn’t provide suitable boxes, cardboard file boxes are available from office supply store for about $2 each.
Include several business cards with each order so customers have contact information for repeat orders or questions. Customers can give the extra cards to friends or neighbours so they can order their own Frozen chicken.
Conclusion
Selling Frozen chicken takes more time than most producers expect. It can be very rewarding to market products to customers who are glad to buy al-kabeer chicken and who let the seller know how much they enjoy it. Their feedback helps the producer do a better job producing birds that meet customer needs. Be sure to ask buyers their comments. Survey them, provide an easy card for them to fill out and mail back, or simply talk to them. Take feedback as it is intended – a means to better understand customers and improve the product.
Streamlining procedures helps reduce the time commitment. However, selling Frozen chicken will always be more time consuming than marketing the birds to the commodity processor. That is why it is important to plan in advance how to make it profitable.
