MEAT+POULTRY - January 2025 - 45

M
arket research aggregator, Global
Information Inc., headquartered
in Japan with offices in Korea,
Thailand, Belgium and the United States
showed the global duck market hit $1.9 billion
in 2022 and is expected to reach $2.3 billion by
2030 growing with a CAGR of 2.9% during the
forecast period 2023-2030 in its " Global Duck
Meat Market, 2023-2030 " report.
As consumer tastes and preferences evolve,
the global duck market has seen an increase
in interest in unique and high-quality food
experiences. This presents an opportunity
in the duck market and brings with it a rise
in demand for specialty and gourmet duck
products. Another opportunity for duck
producers and processors, especially in the
United States, is the health and well-being
movement. In addition to being unique and
borderline exotic, duck's nutritional profile
appeals to those looking for new foods
while maintaining the necessary degree of
health benefits.
POSITIVE OUTLOOK
" I don't want
to say they've
added it
[duck] to their
weekly diet,
but it could
be a monthly
or quarterly
choice... "
- JOEY JURGIELEWICZ
Hamburg, Pa.-based Joe Jurgielewicz & Son
LTD (JJS Duck) operates a 30,000-square-foot
duck slaughter facility, operates
a breeder program and still runs
a handful of family-owned farms.
The company's outlook for itself in
2024, and the industry in America,
is positive as well.
" We're very positive and in
our industry, especially in our
business, we are actually working
on the forecasting right now,
and we're going to be close to
10% up again over last year, " said
Joey Jurgielewicz III, head of
business development.
Jurgielewicz said he believes
the main factor in that rise is
consumers' disposable income. Not
necessarily that they have higher
disposable incomes, but more a matter of how
they will choose to spend that extra money.
" I'd say that a lot of people are looking at
going out to eat at a fine dining restaurant, or
eat maybe a step down, as equally entertaining
as going to a movie or to a professional sports
game, " he said. " You could have equal pricing,
but it's not just eating for substance, they're
going out for the entertainment, the enjoyment,
the hospitality, the camaraderie of being with
their peers. "
He added, " I'd say retail will stay consistent.
We haven't done any huge pushes marketing
wise to address that, but I think that we'll
definitely see that growth in foodservice. "
JJS saw a trend emerge during the COVID19
pandemic in which people became more
adventurous with food. Jurgielewicz said that
adventurous nature has stuck around, and
many people have added those foods they
tried, including duck, to their regular choices
at home and in foodservice.
" I don't want to say they've added it to
their weekly diet, but it could be a monthly or
quarterly choice, which for us in such a small
industry is huge, " he said.
Jurgielewicz did not put a number on
the industry's growth or speak for other
companies, but said he believed the industry as
a whole would definitely expand in 2025.
The duck market remains a specialty
market, JJS tries to make itself a niche within
that niche market. However, Jurgielewicz will
sometimes use available information within the
poultry markets to extrapolate trends into the
markets where JJS competes.
" We just try to be a little more specialized
than a lot of our competitors. So, we definitely
don't follow any commodity trends, but we
do know that if say chicken is down, say in
foodservice because of a poor economy, we will
probably be down a little bit, but we're not going
to follow those trends percent by percent. "
DRIVING DUCK TRENDS
The steady rise in the popularity of Asian
cuisine over the years has not slowed down,
not only in America, but globally as well,
and has given the duck segment a boost in
recent years. A 2023 research analysis from
Washington, DC-based fact tank, Pew Research
Center showed 12% of all restaurants in the
United States serve Asian food. Of those
restaurants 39% serve mainly Chinese food of
which duck is a staple menu item. The Asian
foodservice market represents the largest part
of JJS' business.
In addition, many non-Asian themed
restaurants have begun to add Asian dishes
to their menus in order to capitalize on the
growing trend.
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