Todd Southerland

The growing issue of food safety, along with the increased scrutiny on manufacturers to manage associated risks continues to have a significant impact on the food and beverage industry. As the food supply chain becomes more global and complex, food safety issues tend to be more far-reaching than those experienced decades ago.

While all three major protein categories — chicken, beef and pork — have interesting narratives heading toward the traditionally strong summer selling season, none is more compelling than the broiler industry.

The U.S. chicken industry is poised to set production records by the end of 2017, and based on the upward momentum in egg sets and chick placements, it’s hard to envision 2018 not exhibiting further production gains.