Global growth in red meat consumption is tipped to continue but Australian red meat producers will not have the market all to themselves, according to Meat & Livestock Australia’s chief marketing officer Lisa Sharp.
At the recent Growing SA conference in Hahndorf she said Chinese households were forecast to have 150 million more beef occasions a year by 2022, as the number of families with an income of greater than United States $35,000 a year more than doubles.
To unlock this potential she said beef and sheep producers must not lose sight of consumers’ expectations.
Top of the list in MLA’s market insights was product integrity but both beef and lamb consumers were increasingly looking for “all natural” or “100 per cent natural” on packaging.
She said Australia was a “high cost converter” so needed to focus on delivering a premium quality product, although this meant different things in different markets.
Consumers had differing attitudes to marbling in beef.
“In SE Asia they want less fat but in markets such as US and China fat is highly desirable,” she said.
“Consumers are complicated and here in the home market often how they feel about fat is linked to an occasion.
‘Yes there are those who consider it unhealthy but there are those who know what fat can do adding taste and tenderness – this can be the same person at different times of the day and week.”
Ms Sharp said studying consumer buying habits and their preferred cuts would ensure Australia’s beef and lamb was positioned into the “right markets.”
“As producers you need to know this type of data and many more thousands of pages are being shared with our processors and it is helping them to identify the best market opportunities for the product you are supplying,” she said.
“Have the conversation with your processor about what market they are targeting and how can you best meet that specification.”
