NEW YORK — Demand for chicken is mixed, with weakness in restaurants and the food industry and strength at grocers, an analyst said Thursday.
Akshay Jagdale of KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a client note that demand in the foodservice sector — which includes restaurants — is soft partly because of weak consumer demand and high inventories.
“We do not expect foodservice demand to improve by any meaningful extent unless the employment picture gets better,” Jagdale wrote.
Mike Cockrell, chief financial officer at Sanderson Farms Inc., said in an interview that traffic at the restaurants that it produces chicken for has been dismal since 2008 because of rising gas prices and difficult economic conditions. There is now a significant imbalance between supply and demand for that market, he explained.
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