Huge numbers of the public are sticking with meat despite the squeeze on domestic food budgets, according to consumer research.
Some 97 percent of all households are still buying red meat despite the pressures on the family purse, Kantar figures show.
Avneet Chana, Kantar’s strategic insight director, said almost 85% of all red meat was consumed “for enjoyment”.
She said that this was the motivating force behind sustained sales at a time when most were feeling the economic pinch
“One thing that does come up in every piece of research that we do is that we do things because we enjoy them," she explained.
"We won’t eat something if we don’t like the taste of it - and red meat ranks really high on consumption for enjoyment.”
Kantar’s survey covered some 30,000 UK homes that included a consumer base that is demographically representative in terms of age, lifestyle and region.
“Our continuous survey shows that only around 28,000 UK households stopped buying red meat in 2023 - but that is a drop in the ocean when you consider we are 60 million people,” said Ms Chana.
Red meat had increased in price by 11.5% in 2023 which also saw spend increase by 8.9% but volume reduce by 2.4%.
But Kantar said some red meat categories were increasing in sales, including pork ribs (up 9.5%), mince (3.1%) and sausages (2.2%).
Ms Chana explained: “To contextualise the price increase, let’s compare it to dairy, for instance, with an increase of 20.8%; meat-free, at around the same - 10.4% - and fresh produce at 8.5%."
She said it was encouraging that price inflation was coming down: “With our survey we were able to get a picture of what people are doing, their shopping trends and how they felt about the economy and whether they were struggling, managing or comfortable.
“We saw more and more say they were struggling and less felt they were comfortable and naturally that had impacts on behaviour - we saw change and people starting to make economies right across the market.
“However, there is now some evidence that behaviour is starting to level off a bit. For the first time in a year, inflation is coming down and that is a landmark moment,” she said.
Responding to Kantar's research, Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales’ (HCC) said the very high figure commended the hard work of the nation's farmers
The levy board added that it confirmed the findings of its own consumer taste trials and validated the work carried out on the Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef brands in recent years.
In the taste tests, nearly 2,000 consumers endorsed Welsh Lamb’s tenderness, juiciness, flavour and aroma.
