South Africa’s leading poultry producer, Astral Foods, plans to test the market for canned chicken. It’s a product popular in other countries, the SA Poultry Association (SAPA) has pointed out.
SAPA’s quarterly Key Market Signals report listed a number of websites that South Africans could visit to seek what canned chicken might look like.
These included Tesco in the United Kingdom and Tyson in the United States. There’s also a comparative review of 13 different canned chicken brands in the US, which shows that taste and texture can vary considerably.
The products are nearly all chicken breast meat, in chunks or shredded and in various flavours, including curried chicken. They are said to be ideal for salads, pastas and pies.
And, the publication points out, in the US you can also buy a whole chicken in a can!
Astral has not said which products it will use to test the market. Competitor Lucky Star, which produces canned pilchards, already sells tinned chicken livers in South Africa.
Canned chicken is sold fully cooked, with a shelf life of two to five years. But a properly sealed can of chicken will last a lot longer than that – the BBC reported that in Britain in 2006, a man celebrated his golden wedding anniversary by opening a 50-year-old tin of chicken. He ate it, with no ill effects.
