How to turn large fillets into consumer-ready products

Consumers don't want an oversized fillet that is thick in the middle and thin at the edges. When cooked, it often ends up overdone on the outside while still undercooked at the core. This market trend requires poultry processors to reconsider how they handle their raw material and creates new opportunities for value-added products.

From whole breast to ready-to-cook portions

In the past, breast fillets were sold as simple boneless, skinless pieces. But eating habits have changed. Today's consumers expect ready-to-cook items such as cubes, strips, medallions, minute steaks or skewers. Many customers, especially younger generations, do not want to cut meat at home at all. They want to open a package, cook it quickly in a pan or air fryer, and enjoy a meal without extra preparation.
This is why equal portions become more important. Therefore consistency in cutting also becomes a key factor. Home-delivery meal kits, for example, receive complaints when portion sizes vary too much. Nobody wants to open a "meal for two" and find one large piece of chicken and one very small one. To maintain customer satisfaction, processors need accurate, repeatable cutting results. This is where intelligent portioning, using JBT Marel's solutions, becomes essential.

Oversized fillets: challenge and opportunity

A large fillet is not a problem when you know how to process it well. In fact, oversized fillets can be turned into a range of high-value products, like medallions, minute steaks, stir-fry strips or cubes, split fillets,whole-muscle skewers, and finger-food-size tenders. All these products offer added value and meet modern consumer demands for variety and convenience.

Chicken breast fillets have become so large that many processors struggle to turn them into products consumers actually want.

Intelligent portioning unlocks new product ideas

At JBT Marel, we support processors in transforming big fillets into attractive, profitable products. During workshops in our demo center, we use our portioning setup to test different cutting strategies with real poultry products from our customers. We segment the raw material by weight, explore portion sizes, and map out which products best match the customer's needs.

Precise portioning with I-Cut blade cutting or DSI waterjet cutting technology makes it possible to create uniform, consumer-ready portions, while making maximum use of the large fillets. In this way, intelligent portioning can support a wide range of new product concepts with reduced giveaway and improved yield. This flexibility allows processors to adapt quickly to changing market trends, whether towards larger birds, slower-growing chickens, gourmet products or high-quality ready-to-cook meals.

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Prepared for any trend

The poultry market will continue to evolve. Some regions focus on slower-growing birds; others push for more weight because line speed cannot increase due to governmental regulations. At the same time, fast-food chains face pressure to maintain portion sizes, and family restaurants turn to premium, gourmet menu items to compensate for rising ingredient costs.

Whatever trend takes over next, processors must make the best possible use of every fillet, no matter how large it is. More weight means more product options, provided you have the right portioning technology.

When using the JBT Marel SmartSplitter, RoboOptimizer, I-Cut 122 TrimSort or the DSI Waterjet Cutting Program, processors gain the flexibility to adjust quickly, create new product types, and deliver the consistent quality today's and tomorrow's consumers expect.

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