Consumer eating habits have experienced dramatic changes during the last five years due to Covid lockdowns, rising food prices and more people working from home, but meat remains a mealtime staple for many.

Meat has risen in popularity within both lunch and evening meals despite the continued pressure of rising food prices during the last year. According to Kantar Usage panel, 53.1% of mealtimes feature Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) and 27.8% of our lunch and evening meal occasions feature red meat, up from 27.6% a year ago.

More consumers are choosing to include meat in their lunches compared to before the Covid pandemic in 2019, such as cooked meats, pies and sandwiches. The sandwich is still the number one choice for lunch, being chosen on over 35% of occasions, and soup comes in second at 7.3% of occasions (Kantar Usage). Both of these options are quick, easy and often cost effective, hence their popularity continues to rise.

Over the last five years, consumers have also chosen to have more hot meals during the day, with more consumers having hot breakfasts (+1.4 percentage points) such as fried breakfasts or omelettes, and hot lunches (+3 percentage points) such as soup or pasties, than in 2019 (Kantar Usage).

The cost-of-living crisis also pushed more consumers towards alternative meat cuts to save money, and trends show people are making more versatile, nutrient rich Italian and Indian dishes featuring meat for the whole family to enjoy.

Cost conscious consumers now have an overwhelming desire for their meals to be filling, which has increased from 27.5% to 29.2% over the last 4 years (Kantar Usage). Consumers are increasingly choosing cheaper carbohydrates like rice and pasta to bulk out their meals, aiming to use up cupboard stocks and are also pre-planning their meals to avoid wastage.

AHDB's Retail and Consumer Insight Manager, Vanessa Adamson, said: "There is a real opportunity for red meat growth within in-home and family dining if we continue to highlight meaty meals that are easy to prepare and part of a healthy balanced diet.

"Campaigns like AHDB's 'Let's Eat Balanced' can help promote consumer awareness and foster long-term positive attitudes towards naturally produced British red meat and dairy."

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