The announcement was made at the NCC annual marketing meeting on 21 July.

New plans include a quarterly online partnership with a foodservice operator. The first such partner, KFC, will be featured prominently on the eatchicken.com web site in what NCC is calling a 'Showcase of Chicken', according to Dave Cyphers, president of The Cyphers Agency, who worked with NCC to develop the initiative.

Within the showcase are KFC recipes, new menu additions and an 'Ask the Chef' section where consumers can directly pose questions to a KFC corporate chef, Mr Cyphers explained.

Coupon Promotion

For September, NCC has partnered with Minneapolis-based General Mills for a new coupon promotion.

Coupons for $1 off will be featured on packages of Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes, Wanchai Ferry Asian dinner kits and Romano Macaroni Grill dinner kits when bought with chicken. More than 10 million coupons will be circulated from September through December.

John Bartelme, chief marketing officer for Perdue Farms and chairman of the NCC promotions sub-committee, said that increasing chicken consumption nationwide through these and similar efforts is imperative since USDA data shows that chicken consumption is poised to drop through 2010.

So far, eight chicken processors have joined the coupon effort, including Allen Family Foods, Amick Farms, Claxton Poultry, Foster Farms, Gold'n Plump Poultry, Mountaire Farms, Pilgrim's Pride and Sanderson Farms.