Santa Catarina, Brazil-headquartered Seara Foods, a unit of JBS S.A., is launching 10 innovative frozen breaded poultry products this April and May. The 100% chicken breast meat offerings are shaped in snack formats and presented as chicken thighs.
While the popular Seara brand is purchased by 90% of Brazilian households, frozen breaded products still have large potential for growth when compared to the penetration rates abroad. Though such value added poultry items are present in 33% of domestic households, the rate stands at 54% in the United States and 66% in the United Kingdom.
“We want to give a new meaning to the category in Brazil, where chicken is a traditional dish,” said Seara CEO João Campos. “Consumption is not yet higher because there is a lack of variety and high quality options. Our new line comes to provide for this consumer demand.”
The breaded products segment has seen steady expansion in the short term, growing at an annual rate of 7.4% in recent years. This trend is supported by consumers cooking more at home.
According to a recent survey by Kantar, home cooking increased by 46% from 2021-22. Market estimates indicate that annual revenue generated in this category amounted to approximately R$ 2.9 billion (about US $550 million), with an average ticket 15% higher than non-breaded frozen products.
“We have identified that Brazilians love breaded products, and seek even more convenience and versatility. For this reason, our new line increases the variety of breaded products available in the market. With this move, consumers will now have the products they have always wanted or prepared at home ready for consumption,” said Gabriela Pontin, executive director of Seara’s prepared foods division.
State-of-the-Art Production in Rolandia
Seara’s strategy to reinvent the breaded products category is reinforced by the first phase of operations at its Rolandia factory in the southern region state of Paraná. The R$ 1 billion (roughly US $200 million) investment is the largest JBS has made in the business since its acquisition of Seara in 2013. Built on a 257,000-square-meter plot of land, with a constructed area of 54,000 square meters, the new plant incorporates the main technologies of Industry 4.0 and sustainability. During the construction stage, the project created more than 1,000 jobs in the area.
This is Seara’s most automated facility in Brazil and one of JBS’ most modern plants in the world, with robots on its production and packaging belts, technologies integrated with artificial intelligence, and cloud data storage. The state-of-the-art factory has been designed in line with sustainability protocols, such as rainwater collection, solar power generation in the parking lot, and use of electric vehicles.
