NCC Hails McDonald’s White-Meat Chicken McNuggets

WASHINGTON - McDonald’s nationwide marketing of white-meat chicken McNuggets is added evidence that chicken is not only America’s favorite meat, but that, with added support from companies like McDonald's, chicken will continue to grow to become an even greater favorite in the future, according to the National Chicken Council (NCC).

4 December 2003

3 minute read

NCC Hails McDonald’s White-Meat Chicken McNuggets - WASHINGTON - McDonald’s nationwide marketing of white-meat chicken McNuggets is added evidence that chicken is not only America’s favorite meat, but that, with added support from companies like McDonald's, chicken will continue to grow to become an even greater favorite in the future, according to the National Chicken Council (NCC).

"Consumers who prefer chicken breast meat will now have another good reason to visit their favorite McDonald's more often," said Bill Roenigk, NCC senior vice president and chief economist.

Chicken is an important menu product for many foodservice companies and McDonald's continues to be one of the top companies for creating innovative chicken products that have tremendous appeal with consumers.

"In fact, many people give McDonald's credit for being the first foodservice company to successfully introduce a chicken nugget across America," Roenigk noted. "Over the past two decades since that introduction, McDonald's has proven the chicken McNugget is not a food fad, but an ever increasing and important part of away-from-home dining, especially for young people."

Customers are expected to order chicken nuggets in restaurants more than 1.8 billion times in 2003, an increase of 200 percent since the early '90s, according to NCC calculations based on information from FoodWorld/The NPD Group. "A popularity increase like that over the past dozen years is truly amazing," Roenigk added.

"With McDonald's focus on a white-meat chicken McNugget, increased marketing efforts from the competition, and consumers continued preference for convenient, tasty foods, the National Chicken Council expects restaurant consumption of chicken nuggets to grow by more than 50 percent over the next few years," Roenigk said.

NCC congratulates McDonald's and expresses its appreciation for helping to make chicken McNuggets a truly long-time favorite food and for positioning the product to continue its exciting growth in the future, Roenigk remarked.

Source: PR Newswire - 3rd December 2003