‘Freshness’ of chicken matters most for consumers, confirms university study

Friday, 27 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Management Faculty of the University of Kelaniya recently conducted a market research study to ascertain consumer views and preferences, with a view to studying various aspects of purchasing behaviour among consumers when buying chicken.

Interestingly, ‘freshness’ of the chicken was foremost on their minds when choosing among brands of chicken sold in packed form across the country. Customers’ insistence that their chicken be fresh is hardly surprising, as they have become accustomed to enjoying farm-fresh chicken sold in the country. They have understood what freshness means and have shunned imported chicken in the past, due to lingering doubts about their freshness and sanitary practices in their country of origin.

This is good news for chicken producers such as Crysbro, who have marketed their chicken under the slogan ‘If it is fresh, it is from upcountry’, while aligning their entire production process around the concept of ‘freshness’.

As a fully integrated chicken producer, Crysbro controls every single step involved in producing its chicken. From producing grains in its extensive farmlands, manufacturing poultry feed at its feed mill plant, raising parent birds and broilers, processing meat and packaging it – right down to delivering the packed chicken to supermarkets and retail outlets in its fleet of refrigerated trucks. Thus, Crysbro commands the enviable position of being able to enforce its focus on freshness from beginning to end.

In stark contrast to imported chicken, Crybrso has taken every possible step to ensure freshness of its product. The management at Crysbro firmly believe that ‘Cleanliness in next to Godliness’. Maize, rice, soya and all grains produced at their own farmlands are fumigated and heat-treated at the feed mill to ensure that no micro-organisms or other pathogens are present.

Stringent bio-security and sanitation practices adopted by Crysbro include regular testing of its breeder farms, hatcheries and processing plants, to identify and remove contaminants, as well as biological and chemical pathogens.

Packaging also plays a key role in ensuring freshness, which is the reason behind the pioneering introduction of Cryovac packaging by Crysbro to the Sri Lankan market. Cryovac is a registered trademark for a process in which meat is sealed in a thermoplastic resin wrapping film and the air removed by a vacuum pump, while the film is heat-shrunk over the foods to ensure freshness.

As an ISO 22000 certified organisation, Crysbro follows the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points or ISO 22000 systematic, preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical and physical hazards in its breeding, production and distribution processes. Crysbro ensures compliance with ISO 22000 protocols at five critical points. These practices ensure that the Crysbro chicken maintains optimum freshness when it reaches the point of sale at supermarkets and A-grade outlets.

These factors confirm that Crysbro’s overarching commitment to freshness is in line with results of the university research, which reveals that Sri Lankan consumers regard ‘freshness’ as the most important consideration when purchasing chicken.