Transavia, the largest chicken meat producer in Romania and one of the most reputable family businesses, is releasing the results of a national market study aimed at analyzing Romanians' chicken consumption habits. Transavia has established itself on the local and international markets through constant investments and a vertically integrated business model, which reaffirms its position as a leader in Romania today, as well as a top position among the largest local exporters.
Download Infographic
The study was conducted in partnership with the market research company iSense Solutions on a sample of 520 people, men and women aged over 18, from urban areas, who usually cook at least once a week.
The study data reveal current consumption trends for poultry meat, a perspective on market evolution, and the top most popular chicken recipes cooked by Romanians.
„We are glad that following this study, our premium brand Fragedo remains in first place in the consumption preferences of Romanians. This represents a reconfirmation of the activity that we have been carrying out with the same passion and dedication since 1991. At Transavia, quality represents a core principle, as we want to offer Romanians the best chicken meat, which complies with all imposed food safety standards. Consumers' trust in our products encourages us to keep the tradition of things done exactly as they should be, from farm to fork, through an integrated business model based on transparency and exacting quality.”, declares Ioan Popa, General Manager of Transavia.
The results of the study place chicken at the top of Romanians' preferences. Thus, regarding the types of meat consumed most often, chicken is the most frequent choice, with 7 out of 10 Romanians stating that they use it for preparing meals several times a week. At the same time, 95% of people who cook at least weekly consume this type of meat.
Hypermarkets and supermarkets remain the most frequented places where Romanians choose to buy chicken meat (77%), with specialized physical stores being preferred by a much smaller number of people (49%), while only 46% of respondents stated that they go to ordinary grocery stores. At the same time, 94% of Romanians prefer to buy fresh refrigerated meat to the detriment of frozen meat, which was chosen by a percentage of only 27%, made up especially of young people aged between 18 and 25.
Explaining their frequent choice of chicken in their diet, Romanians claim that it is an easy-to-cook food (71%), tastes good (62%), and is a lean meat with few calories (57%). Most Romanians associate this type of meat with low calorie intake, low fat content, and a healthy lifestyle. Occasional consumers perceive chicken as being rich in vitamins.
The types of chicken most commonly used in Romanian kitchens are chicken breast (82%), chicken thighs (77%), and chicken drumsticks (72%), though other cuts like livers, wings, and gizzards are also popular. The methods by which they most frequently prefer to cook them are baked in the oven (81%), in stews (75%), and grilled (68%).
The Transavia study also highlights a series of interesting data about how Romanians cook chicken, where they get their information from, and which recipes top their preferences.
93% percent of respondents—people who cook weekly—chose grilled chicken breast as the most frequently prepared chicken recipe in their households. In second place is chicken schnitzel, trailing by just one percentage point. Romanians also expressed a strong preference for chicken stew (91%), noodle soup (88%), and chicken soup with dumplings (88%). The list continues with a number of other chicken recipes, such as chicken with rice, pan-fried chicken livers, oven-baked chicken thighs with vegetables, roast chicken with garlic sauce and polenta, chicken salad, or chicken and peas.
Among the top three most frequently cooked chicken recipes for children, chicken schnitzel is the first choice for Romanians, with 82% of the study participants stating that they prepare this recipe for their little ones. The second most commonly prepared recipe is chicken soup (78%), and chicken soup with dumplings is Romanians’ third choice for children’s meals.
81% of chicken consumers say they learned the recipes they prepare from family members (mothers, grandparents), while 57% of them draw inspiration from online sources, specialized websites, or blogs.
Romanians are also open to international cuisines, with Italian cuisine being the most appreciated (68%), followed by Greek (37%) and French (36%).
The study conducted by Transavia brings an up-to-date perspective on the culinary and consumption habits of Romanians, as well as on the chicken meat market, which has grown steadily in recent years.
Transavia has an annual production of over 70,000 tons of chicken meat and has 314 poultry houses across 24 poultry breeding farms, 4 crop farms, a mixed feed mill, 3 high-performance state-of-the-art slaughterhouses, and a meat processing plant. 15% percent of the company's annual production goes to the export market in several European countries, such as Great Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Spain, and Croatia.
