The meat sector looks for strategies to stay competitive.
Customers are ever-evolving. Therefore, in order to continue to be successful, all sectors of the meat industry must adapt the way they market to and engage with these consumers. At the North American Meat Institute’s Meat Industry Summit in San Antonio from April 16–19, Danette Amstein and Michael Uetz, managing principals of Midan Marketing, delivered a session titled “Tomorrow’s Meat Consumers: Driving Trends and Disrupting the Industry,” with this as its overarching theme.
Mr. Uetz stated, “You need to understand who you’re marketing to and what drives their purchases.” “The meat business will no longer control the ‘middle of the dish,’ as we formerly did. We will no longer have a “share of stomach,” as we once did.
“Our world is changing,” continued Ms. Amstein. To be ready for the future, our industry needs to make a few minor adjustments right now. A great deal of disturbance is occurring.
The two’s main takeaway from their presentation was that, in the rapidly evolving meat sector, success hinged on having a thorough understanding of the consumer.Mr. Uetz stated, “We are all influenced by the consumer’s mindset and the factors that motivate them to make purchases on a daily basis.” “You will lose out if you don’t remember that, regardless of where you are in the food system.”
Generation X, or people born between the early 1960s and the late 1970s, has long been written off as a generation that isn’t worth marketing or communicating to, according to Mr. Uetz. But when it comes to the meat market, he claims that baby boomers are being overlooked.
“As an industry, we’re not doing a very good job of guiding boomers as they enter their golden years,” he said. “We’re not concerned with meeting their demands for specific package sizes, nor are we focused on meeting their nutritional needs. We must give this customer segment more consideration.Of course, it’s also critical to comprehend youthful consumers. For the first time ever, millennials will surpass boomers in figures, stated Mr. Uetz. When making purchases, millennials prefer to connect with the items they buy.According to Mr. Uetz, “they are ‘connected’ and want to know as much as they can about the products they are buying.”
He clarified that this translates into marketing and communication potential for the beef business.Born after 1996, Generation Z is highly educated, socially conscious, environmentally conscious, charitable, and has never known a world without a computer. They also turn to social media for shopping recommendations. Of this generation, 96% own a cell phone, and half of them use the internet for at least ten hours a day.
In an effort to connect with today’s evolving consumer base, the Midan team identified four major trends to take into account: big data and technology, educated eating, sustainability and the environment, and transparency.
According to Ms. Amstein, “consumers are moving health and wellness from being a fad to being mainstream.” People are starting to take their health more seriously and intentionally. They are trying to find their personalized meat product.Customers of today look for beef products that meet their particular requirements.
According to the most recent Power of Meat Study, sales of meat products with claims (like grass-fed, organic, antibiotic-free, etc.) on their packaging outperformed conventional meat products with no claims by 4% to 5%.
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Ms. Amstein clarified that customers are thinking about protein more than ever, which is good news for the meat business. The unfortunate thing with protein these days is that people don’t just think of meat.
She declared, “We lost the fight to claim protein as our own.” “People used to associate the word “protein” with meat, but these days they associate it with a wide range of goods. We need to come up with a strategy for highlighting the variations in the amount of protein that animal products can provide.
The consumer of today speaks differently not only about sustainability but also about protein. Although consumers and the meat business find sustainability to be a contentious issue, opinions on the subject differ.”Consumers and corporations use different words to describe sustainability,” Ms. Amstein stated.Four stages are included in an organization’s approach to sustainability:
Compliance: Viewing sustainability as a business requirement rather than a personal goal.Cost reduction: As businesses become more aware of the potential cost savings associated with sustainability initiatives, they become more inclined to adopt sustainable practices.Value addition: Businesses in this stage understand that setting themselves apart from competitors in the market may be achieved through sustainability.
Embraced: By the time businesses get to this stage, everyone is involved. Sustainability integrates with the company’s identity. The company’s mission now includes sustainability, which is taken into account in all they do.
When it comes to sustainability, Ms. Amstein stated that some education will need to happen. “As an industry, we will need to put in some effort to inform consumers about the true meaning of sustainability.”Transparency with consumers in the meat business and sustainability communication go hand in hand.
“Truth and trust are the fundamental components of transparency,” Mr. Uetz stated. “The deal won’t close if your customer doesn’t trust your business and your offering.”
Mr. Uetz clarified that consumers are concerned about the businesses that produce the goods they use.
The fight for transparency is being led by millennial mothers. Eighty-six percent would be willing to pay extra for a fully transparent product.