Ground Beef Challenges

By John Lundeen, Beef Issues Quarterly

November 11, 2016 | 1 min to read

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In the last Beef Issues Quarterly, an article explored whether lab-grown meat and ground crickets are potentially a challenge to ground beef. Beyond these more exotic choices, the article also considered the percentage of consumers that may seek out a closer substitute to ground beef, such as a plant-based-option product derived from soy and chickpeas. In conclusion, that article noted that there isn’t a hue and cry among consumers for these alternatives.

This article will look at more direct challenges to ground beef demand, and discuss needed industry actions. This article is written in recognition of the importance of ground beef to the beef industry, with close to 60 percent of current beef volume domestically reaching the market as ground beef.1

Background

For the first six months of 2016, additional beef moved through the grocery channel. Interestingly, there was a small shift in the type of beef purchased, with an increase in steak and roast volume, and a 3 percent decrease in ground beef. This led to additional analysis by the market research and intelligence department, to investigate the consumer forces behind ground beef’s small sales shift. The rationale was to determine if market fundamentals for ground beef were evolving.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Beef Issues Quarterly

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