For years, beef producers have been losing round after round to a seven pound bird.
A wide ranging consumer study commissioned by Alberta Beef Producers found people choose chicken for the health benefits but eat beef for the taste.
“Savour and flavour were the descriptions of this product,” said Roger Mercier of Street Smart, which provided the study results at the recent beef producers annual meeting in Calgary.
The study looked at why beef consumption is dropping and what can be done to increase sales.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Beef producers chair Chuck McLean said he was not surprised because declining red meat consumption is a trend across North America as the population ages and eats less.
“It’s not that people don’t like the product, it is just that they consume less. Every other market in the world outside of North America is probably going to expand,” he said.
The study encouraged more product innovation while still preserving flavour, tenderness and juiciness.
“You have to be responsive. I don’t think cutting a New York strip in a different fashion is the answer,” he said.
The study was based on focus groups in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge and internet surveys where people were asked about their protein consumption rather than targeting their beef use.
The result showed the average household meat menu is around 40 percent for chicken, 30 percent beef, 25 percent pork and five percent fish.
Those findings are consistent with other surveys and among all the protein groups, chicken has made the most gains.
The common reason for avoiding red meat is concern about too much fat. For those who had veered toward vegetarianism, chicken or fish was added for protein.
“You cannot change the deeply ingrained perceptions,” Mercier said.
Beef has a certain social cache where those surveyed talked about the pleasure of barbecuing burgers and steaks.
“Beef is king in many people’s mind when it comes to barbecue,.”
One person told the focus group he would rather get a couple steaks than a box of chocolates.
People described beef as a comfort food that is flavourful, rich, juicy, chewy, filling, inviting and smells good on the barbecue. They said tacos and burgers are family meal staples.
Chicken is viewed as the most the convenient and healthy of the proteins. People were also aware that fish is a healthy choice that provides omega-3 fatty acids.
“A lot of people are being told by credible third parties that salmon is good for you. They are trying to get people to get more balance,” he said.
If ABP wants to promote the nutritive value of beef, it would do better to spread the message through a third party.
The survey also talked with five retailers at 30 locations across Alberta. At the retail counter, chicken has made gains offering branded products that are pre-seasoned or already cooked. There are few cooked beef items or branded packages.
But there are positives for beef.
A travelling barbecue at Superstore and Save On Foods supermarkets offered beef samples to shoppers to encourage them to pick up beef at the meat case.
Save-On said it is interested in having ranchers in the stores talking about beef to customers and features large full colour posters of Alberta and British Columbia ranching families to promote the Canadian product.
The Beef Information Centre also worked with Safeway promoting Alberta beef and used logos on its products.
Calgary Co-op stores are the only ones selling Alberta Tender AAA beef under glass case as a premium product. Sobeys sells Sterling Silver brand from Cargill and Save-On sells the Angus Pride from Cargill.
Many companies and commodities are competing for the consumers’ attention.
“Chicken is winning the day with all these value added things,” he said.
