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pigmeat remaining unchanged with less eaten as bacon but more in processed products). Poultry in
2000, was the most popular meat and accounted for 39% of the total market.
Much of the reduction in beef and lamb and the increase in pig meat and poultry consumption in the
UK over this period has been chiefly driven by changes in the socio/economic environment, such as
the increase in the number of small family units, changing work pattems and lifestyles. All meats have
also been affected by consumers concems’ over food and these have been reflected in issues such as,
diet and health, taste, eating and cooking habits.
The beef and lamb market has, in the last twenty years, gradually shifted away from the sale of
traditional cuts of meat (especially lower value cuts that required longer preparation time and slow
cooking), towards the sale of more value added meat and meat as a food ingredient in prepared and
manufactured products.
There has been significant growth in the market for more convenience-processed foods. Between
1991 and 1999, total household expenditure on ffesh/frozen meat and bacon and ham increased by
about 8% to £7397 million, while expenditure on ‘other meat and meat products’ rose by 40% to
£4193 million. The largest markets and main growth sectors in this increase were the ‘ffozen
convenience meats’ and the ‘ready meals’ markets, with takeaway ready meals becoming an
increasingly important subdivision of this latter market. The third largest market is for sausages, and
the fourth for meat pies, pasties and puddings).
The total market for beef, lamb, pig meat and poultry in the UK in 2000 remains huge, with retail ,
processing and catering sales worth an estimated £15.8 billion. Retail sales for ffesh meat (excluding
ham) are worth an estimated £6.0 billion, the retail sales for processed meat £6.1 billion and the
catering market for ffesh and processed product £3.7 billion. This is within a total retail food market
in the UK in 2000 of over £55 billion).
The Socio/Economic Framework Driving Change
All MLC the market research carried out, indicates that the changing ‘macro’ factors defming the
socio/economic ffamework in the UK have an important long term effect on the trends in meat
consumption. Some of the most important ‘macro’ factors that are expected to affect what we eat in
the future are:
• Increasing disposable income;
• Increasing owner occupation;
• Decreasing household size;
• Ageing population;
• Increase in single households;
• Lower numbers and later marriage;
• Growth of women in work;
• Less ffee time out of work -leisure time at a premium;
• Rapid take up of technology - PC/mobile phone/Intemet etc;
• Advances in food technology i.e. packaging and shelf life;
• Continuing concem over health and what foods/diets are healthy;
• Continuing concem over animal welfare;
• Continuing concem over the environment,;
• New concem about ‘over manufactured’ foods
All of the above will continue to bring ‘lifestyle’ changes that affect consumer behaviour and eating
habits through their impact on:
• Cooking,
• Shopping,
• Attitudes to food -taste as an issue,
• Retailer/caterer focus,
• Market definition - meat eaten in the home/outside of the home/takeaway,
• Meats role - e.g. meat purchased as a meal ingredient or within a food product.
The ‘Leisure ’ and ‘Convenience' Markets
As changes in lifestyle continue, the future meat market will continue to segment into ‘ffesh and