Whoever gives consumers what they want will win the protein competition among beef, pork and poultry, said agricultural economist Ted Schroeder at the Alberta Beef Producers annual meeting Dec. 5.
A major international study shows there is a continuing consumer perception of food safety problems in meat.
Schroeder of Kansas State University presented the results of the study involving people in the United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico to determine how consumer attitudes and perception about beef food safety vary.
The survey asked people to rate the importance of price, freshness, nutritional value, visual appeal, safety assurance, eating and preparation time when they were deciding what to buy in the store.
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Canadians ranked freshness, leanness, price, colour and tenderness as most important. Americans said the most important factors were freshness, price, leanness, colour and tenderness. The Japanese considered freshness, country of origin, price, safety assurance and colour while Mexicans want freshness, colour, price, flavour and safety assurance.
When asked whether they think beef is safe or very safe relative to other meat, Canada and the U.S. had a high level of confidence in pork, beef and poultry. Lamb and seafood were ranked slightly below that. More than 60 percent of Mexicans rated their beef as safe, but only 42 percent trusted pork.
The Japanese were the most safety conscious with 48 percent saying beef is somewhat safe. About 80 percent had confidence in pork.
The survey found people had concerns about processed meats and fast foods.
“The more processed the product, for consumers around the globe that we interviewed, the more distrustful they were,” Schroeder said.
People said they had more control over fresh food preparation and had less faith in the processed product where something may have been added.
Fast food restaurants received the lowest level of confidence among consumers.
When consumers were asked if they had changed beef consumption habits because of food safety concerns in the last five years nearly 20 percent in Canada and the U.S. admitted to a change. About 30 percent of Mexicans had changed purchases and 55 percent of Japanese consumers reduced beef consumption due to food safety concerns.
Country-of-origin labelling produced some contradictory results, however most surveyed said they prefer the domestic product. More than 90 percent of Canadians want the domestic product.
“Your consumers in Canada have the most faith in their product,” he said.
In Japan, 30 percent of the market has no problem with Canadian beef, but only eight percent have confidence in the U.S. product.
The Japanese are the most risk averse population and may be unwilling to consume a product if there is a chance of trouble. Penetrating such a market will take considerable education to make them believe eating beef is a safe activity.
However Canadian and American consumers accept some level of risk. They know about E. coli and other problems but trust their food regulators.
Aversion to risk is related to age, gender and education. In every country, older people tend to be more risk averse. Females are more risk averse as are the most educated people.
