Poultry is one of the three major meats in Korea and is a representative source of protein. The annual per capita consumption of chicken has been showing steady growth trends, with an increase of approximately 89% in 2018 compared to that of 2005. In this study, we investigated the domestic chicken production and consumption, and conducted an overall study on the domestic chicken industry. By using consumer panel data, we analyzed the characteristics of consumers buying chicken. Specifically, poultry was categorized into two types: traditional raw chicken and processed chicken, which emphasizes convenience. The purchase of raw chickens has generally been on the decline. From these, however, the proportion of native Korean chicken and chicken cuts is on the rise. Processed chicken, on the other hand, continues to grow, especially online. After examining the consumption characteristics of consumers who buy chicken, it was found that the purchase share increased with increasing age of native Korean chickens, whereas the purchase share increased with decreasing age of processed chicken. Based on these results, we confirmed that it is necessary to establish differentiated marketing and promotion strategies for each consumer target for the growth of chicken market.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mortality rate, weight gain, and protein, lipid cholesterol, and total amino acid contents in processed-sulfur-diet chicken meat. Also investigated were the antioxidant activity and glutathione content of blood plasma. The mortality of the processed-sulfur-diet chickens was relatively reduced, and their weight increased compared to the normal-diet chickens. Although the glutathione content decreased in the processed-sulfur-diet chicken blood plasma, the antioxidant activity increased compared with the normal-diet chickens. Also, there was no difference in the total cholesterol contents of the blood, but the level of HDL cholesterol increased while that of LDL cholesterol decreased. Furthermore, there were no changes in the total amino acid and protein contents, but the fat content was significantly reduced. As no toxicity was found in the DT 40 cells in the MTT assay, it can be concluded that dietary sulfur in chicken feed can improve the quality of poultry products.