We're currently facing numerous challenges with beef prices rising, tight chicken availability and turkey prices at an all-time high in the run up to this year's festive period.

Here's an executive summary of the meat market:

• Volume forecasts remain positive, balancing reduced per capita consumption with population growth
  
  
• Demographic shifts such as migration, the rise of Gen Z, and the increase in single-person households are influencing consumer meat consumption
  
  
• Consumers attitudes and behaviours influencing meat consumption:
  • Disruptive Uncertainty: cost-of-living challenging the affordability of purchasing and cooking meat
  • Convenience & Ease: traditional meals being replaced by alternative fortified sources of protein that can be eaten on the go
  • Environment & Sustainability: rising concerns of the sustainability of meat consumption fuelling flexitarian diets
  • Experience & Enjoyment: younger consumers are changing the way they consume meat focusing more on snacking, eating on the go and out-of-home consumption.
    

• Protein consumption patterns are shifting. Poultry is projected to dominate future growth, making up 62% of additional meat consumption by 2034
  
  
• Pork consumption is expected to decline, especially in high-income areas. Beef consumption is set to drop significantly in Europe, North America, and Oceania, while lamb consumption is predicted to stay stable globally
  
  
• Germany and the Netherlands are the leading markets in achieving a reduction in meat consumption as governments and retailers have supported plant-based diets
  
  
• Some countries are not engaging in any formal or aggressive push to reduce meat consumption resulting in a slower change in consumers diets.
  

Five key meat market insights:

1. Price
   Over the last five years, proteins have seen inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is forcing consumers to switch to cheaper cuts or cheaper proteins where chicken is the winner at the expense of red meat
   
   
2. Health
   Consumers are investing more into healthy diets, concerns over ultra-processed foods are rising which is starting to limit consumption of proteins that are deemed less healthy where chicken is being favoured.
   
   
3. Sustainability
   Consumers are becoming more aware of the impact of meat consumption on the environment. For some this is limiting consumption of red meat in favour of chicken and countries are investing in making sourcing more sustainable to meet targets.
   
   
4. Influencing
   Germany and the Netherlands have illustrated that a more aggressive narrative around meat reduction translates into reduce consumption. In countries where there is little encouragement to change consumption change is much slower.
   
   
5. Alternative Proteins
   Consumers are favouring a more flexible dietary approach of being a flexitarian where vegetables and legumes are playing a larger part in diets and replacing the lacking role of meat analogues. Cultured meat which is starting to be approved for human consumption is likely to challenge traditional meat further.

Regency continue to proactively mitigate availability issues and supply risk, putting solutions in place to reduce impact, such as product switches and recipe re-engineering.

When analysing the affects that inflation has on your businesses purchasing, it's important to understand that inflation affects not only the price of goods, but also the quality and availability - this is something that our team of procurement experts can assess in detail, to ensure our members are always achieving the best outcomes in all areas. To find out more about ways in which we can help save your business time and money, get in touch.

Source: Hilton Foods.