A staggering 90 per cent of consumers said AHDB’s We Eat Balanced TV advert communicated that meat and dairy can be part of a balanced diet.

And two different consumer age groups said the likelihood of them buying meat or dairy had risen after being exposed to the £3.5 million campaign – which ran throughout January and February.

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We Eat Balanced, which is in its second year, played out on TV screens, social media and in print, and was seen by nearly 24 million UK households – delivering important messages around health, sustainability and Britain’s world-class food and farming standards.

The TV advert, featuring nine-year-old Nancy and her grandfather, proved a hit with consumers – particularly young adults. 65 per cent of young adults liked the commercial, and 82 per cent found it interesting – a demographic which has historically been harder to reach.

And after seeing AHDB’s campaign, purchase intent for meat on the next shop among the 34 to 49 age group rose five percentage points to 77 per cent, while dairy saw a six-percentage point increase to 84 per cent among the 16 to 34-year-olds.

AHDB Director of Marketing Liam Byrne said: “The campaign has played an important part in helping counteract the sensationalist headlines by helping to position the positive role that red meat and dairy from Britain can play as part of a healthy and sustainable diet.

“It’s also great to see how well the campaign has landed with young people, who are typically very engaged in issues of ethics, health and the environment.

“Most of us want to do the right thing, by making small positive changes to improve our health and the health of the planet. By understanding that when you choose red meat and dairy from Britain you are choosing products with some of the lowest carbon footprints and highest welfare standards in the world, is something we can all do, easily.” 

The campaign focused on three key messages – red meat and dairy as a source of Vitamin B12, Britain’s world-class production standards and that red meat and dairy from Britain is among the most sustainable in the world.

And following the campaign, consumer perceptions that meat and dairy from Britain is produced sustainably grew significantly – up five and eight percentage points to 41 per cent and 51 per cent respectively

We Eat Balanced also drove significant uplifts in attitudes around health, with the number of consumers seeing meat and dairy as a source of vitamin B12 rising five and four percentage points to 30 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

The campaign, which was aimed at people who were looking to reduce the amount of meat and dairy they consumed, also generated nearly 45 million impressions across social media and video-on-demand.

We Eat Balanced forms part of AHDB’s work in challenging misinformation around red meat and dairy. AHDB has successfully challenged inaccurate claims made by Meatless Farm Company and Oatly with the Advertising Standards Authority.