U.S. consumers’ meat preferences are changing

Boosted by mild price increases and holiday demand, Americans are back at the meat case and purchasing protein for preparation at home. But the real question is, what are they buying?

According to recent research by Circana, U.S. consumers have altered their meat consumption over the past year, with 76% noting they have made one or more changes in their meat/poultry purchases. The majority are buying less or differently, and the generational differences in decision factors are clear, says Melissa Rodriguez, principal at Circana.

A leading advisor on the complexity of consumer behavior, Circana supports almost 7,000 of the world’s leading brands and retailers by providing advanced analytics, cross-industry data and professional expertise.

“What's really interesting is at the top of that is that product quality and appearance … when you think of your packaging and how your product looks, that matters to consumers. They want to be able to see that. They want to understand on the packaging, where it's from, what size, all of the different value-add pieces that might play a role in that packaging,” says Rodriguez. “That's up there, almost tied with price. Price per pound matters. And so, when prices were really high, 18 months ago, we saw people back off a little bit in their purchasing or they were buying smaller pack sizes.”

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As fresh meat acceleration continues, now at $71 billion, a 5% increase over a year ago, the “lion’s share” has been driven by beef and chicken, while pork is relatively flat, Rodriguez says.

Grinds are now $1.4 billion of that “meat pocket,” and have grown nearly four times compared to any other type of meat. Beef is still No. 1, but turkey and chicken are also performing well, Rodriguez notes. And Millennials and Gen X account for 77% of that ground meat dollar growth.

“When you're thinking about younger consumers as well, this is an area that they're comfortable cooking. So, if you continue to think about ways that we can incorporate grinds into their everyday eating occasions, I think it'll be really important,” Rodriguez says.

Another area that Circana is seeing gain momentum is the marinated and seasoned pork shoulder.

“It's just another area of that ease and that convenience, of a consumer being able to take it out of the packaging and cook it right away, not having to do a lot to it. They can just really get it prepped easily and kind of put it together for a meal,” Rodriguez says.

As for processed meat, Rodriguez says its been a “mix bag of performance.” After sharp price increases in 2023, bacon is now “coming back off of that and lapping some of that,” which she attributes partly to the younger consumer.

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“Bacon was down minus 0.5% in pounds for the overall consumer group, it's up nearly 8% for the younger generations,” Rodriguez says, remarking millennial and younger consumers are also influential in purchasing breakfast and dinners sausages.

However, she says it’s not pork sausage, but chicken sausage that is steering that growth.

Case ready and convenience also continue to be top considerations in the shopper journey when purchasing meat, with Circana seeing success in products such as boneless chicken thighs, ground beef, bacon and marinated value-added meat.

Looking toward the future, Rodriguez says its important to note younger shoppers are improving their engagement within the meat department. They may not be making as many trips or spending as much per trip as older consumers. Instead, they are making “pocket shops” or fill-in trips.

“You're in and out, you're grabbing what you need for your meal, and then you're kind of going on your way and you're still looking at that value trend,” Rodriguez says. “You have to find a different way to engage with these folks and continue to drive those trip frequencies up because they're just not buying as much.”

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As for their protein preferences versus other generations? Generation Z buys more chicken than the average households, while millennials are gravitating toward chicken and meat alternatives, and boomers and senior/retirees are purchasing veal, lamb and pork.

“Why is pork flat? This is part of it. When we looked at the generations not growing in their sales of meat … Boomers were up 0.1%. They're the people that are buying pork outside of bacon,” Rodriguez says. “If we want these younger consumers, we have to engage with them to become pork consumers to drive those sales numbers up. But this is a big part of why we're not seeing all pockets of pork growing, except for some of those convenient and processed ones with the younger consumers.”

Beef is also not a top purchase with the younger consumers. While price may be a barrier, risk is also a concern.

“They're not buying the premium cuts of beef; is price a barrier? Oh, probably … and is it a concern to ruin it, with that price in mind, a piece of it as well? Yes,” Rodriguez says. “We see that in seafood as well. Younger generations are terrified of making scallops and other things that are very expensive, but they'll cook shrimp. We think it's a lower risk area for them.

“As we talk about the education, meeting them where they're at or becoming viral, that's a piece that could potentially drive some of that success. But again, knowing that price is one of those key things, if that's their largest concern, some of those pockets won't be met unless we're meeting a price threshold for some of those cuts.”

The younger generations also favor meat cuts that allow for quick preparation and ease of experimentation. For Gen Z, its chicken wings and chicken legs, while millennials turn to chicken breast and ground turkey. Smoked ham and turkey breast are top purchases for boomers, whereas the whole turkey and pork chops are popular among seniors and retirees.

Rodriguez says the meat department can capture the next generations of consumers by delivering value with products rooted in four key consumer trends: convenience, quality, relevance and virality.

“As we're talking about the younger generations and how they're going to continue to spend more, we do need to have innovation that they care about and that could be in the pork space. There could be other grind areas that are coming pre-seasoned, that can drive some of that,” Rodriguez says.