UK meat consumption – in numbers and pictures

Figures released by Defra and Kantar Worldpanel help to show the changing meat eating habits of UK consumers.  

Total consumption of fresh red meat (at retail level) fell 1.8% in the year to 31 January 2016, according to Kantar figures.

Consumers chose to eat 1.2% less beef and 4.9% less pork. Lamb bucked the trend, with volumes consumed up 1.7%, however low commodity prices also pushed the overall spend on lamb 0.4% lower to £643.8m.

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These changes were born out over a longer period too, according to figures from Defra (see chart below).

Why are consumers changing their meat eating habits?

The average cooking time in the 80s was an hour, but now it was about 30 minutes, said Steven Evans, senior consumer insight analyst at AHDB, and meat was not seen as convenient to this shorter time period.

Also, in the past five to 10 years, there had been a rise in the number of one or two-person households, which had led to an increase in convenience meals and a decline in the buying of prime meat.

Mr Evans said a “dish-based cuisine” – one-pot meals – such as stir-fries, pizzas and pasta, often didn’t include meat as the central focus.

Stephen Howarth, market specialist manager at AHDB, added that health conscious young people often avoided pork products completely, while chicken’s continuing dominance in volume terms over red meat, was partly down to how easy it was to cook.

“However, ultimately demand for meat globally is still rising due to emerging economies.”