Meat+Poultry - December 2022 - 30

SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
Cultivated meat's place in
the future protein market
is still unclear, but it has
gained considerable ground
since its first appearance.
" Cultivated meat is an interesting area, "
Roerink said. " People who have some concerns
over the idea of eating meat and poultry from
a health, animal, or planet point of view, like
the idea of taking cells from the animal and
growing it in a laboratory. However, the vast
majority of Americans have some concerns
relative to eating cultivated meat. A lot of
these concerns center on food safety, taste,
texture etc. "
According to Midan's research, consumers
have yet to make strong decisions on cultivated
meat. As volume increases and pricing
becomes more acceptable to consumers,
Midan believes adoption of cultivated meat will
exceed what has been seen for plant based.
" It will take time, but traditional animal
protein production needs to be thinking about
how to position their products to keep majority
market share, " Hixon said.
LOOKING AHEAD
For the future processors need to pay close
attention to inflation and how consumers react
to it regarding their purchasing habits. Creating
value for shoppers will help counter the spikes
in prices, but processors must also understand
value means different things to different
demographics.
" For some, 'value' means the absolute
lowest cost for highest number of meals -
these consumers are buying more grinds and
value cuts like roasts, " Hixon said. " For others,
30 MEAT+POULTRY | 12.22 | www.meatpoultry.com
value-added products provide new flavors and
save time. Others are choosing to save their
dollars by recreating restaurant meals at home,
and this opens a door for premium meats. "
According to the Power of Meat, yearon-year
the price of groceries increased 15%
and compared to pre-pandemic levels prices
are up 25-27%, reinforcing inflation and the
need for industry to respond. That on top of
other financial pressures will affect shopper
decision making.
" They are looking for more sale specials
during a time when industry is having a
hard time providing specials, " Roerink said.
" People are looking for smaller packages,
people are looking for proteins that are a little
cheaper on the price per pound basis etc. So,
figuring out how to continue to keep people in
the category while not eroding the purchases
of others will be an important conundrum
to consider. "
She added that the meat purchasers
themselves will change as time goes on, and
companies need to adjust by paying attention
to who is spending.
" If we look at the distribution of the food
dollar in today's market, we see that boomers
and Gen X are the majority spenders. But if we
look at growth, we see that millennials and Gen
X are the ones who are driving a lot of the new
dollars. So, we need to make sure that in our
merchandising we address today's shopper, but
also start engaging tomorrow's shopper. "
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Meat+Poultry - December 2022

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