Greenlea Premier Meats business development manager Julie McDade believed the future was bright for red meat. Past talk of alternative proteins supplanting red meat and claims that it was the end of red meat has not come to pass.
“While I don’t believe plant proteins will go away, there is certainly a place in the diet for meat,” McDade said.
There was global concern from consumers with disposable income about diets in developed countries and most understood that lean red meat was the best form of protein and iron.
At the same time, people are moving towards more natural foods and away from overly processed food.
“They are concerned about sustainability. That’s not something that’s a marketing pitch anymore, it’s not a nice to have, that’s essential,” she said.
KPMG agri-food analyst Jack Keeys says alternative proteins had gone through a hype cycle and was now approaching the tip of that cycle and was coming back down.
He says about US$3 billion was invested in alternative proteins in 2020, about four times the amount as 2019 and it would be naive to think this market will only affect commodities.
“At the same time, these alternative proteins, we should look at them as a competitor, just like poultry is, just like seafood is, just like pork is,” Keeys said.
While big dollars were being spent on alternative proteins, at the moment it makes up about 2% of global protein.
By 2035, about 11% of the global diet could be made up of alternative proteins.
“If all the stars align and technology looks excellent and everything looks perfect for them in regulation, it could hit one fifth – 20-22% – it’s not going to suddenly take over tomorrow,” he said.
Alternative proteins also had a different value proposition to NZ red meat and he agreed with McDade around the demand for quality and nutrition.
McDade says meat will also be more expensive and people will accept that because they can see the work gone into its production.
“Food has been made cheaper and cheaper by factory farming and I think consumers are going to reject that,” she said.
This was good news for NZ because it farmed the way people wanted. People made purchasing choices based on their understanding of issues and farmers needed to be authentic in what they told people.
“If you’re going to make claims, they must be verifiable and you can’t be wishy-washy,” she said.
Consumers can quickly check via the internet or social media if they have doubts around any claims.
“If we make a claim, we have to be sure that we stand behind it,” she said.
Among those claims that will face increasing scrutiny are those around animal health and welfare.
Beef + Lamb NZ’s Dan Brier says high-value customers want to know that their food is not only good for them, but is sourced from an animal that was well cared for and had a happy life.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about animals leading pain-free lives, which runs into conflict with practices such as tagging, docking and separating calves from their mother.
“Those sorts of things in 20-30 years, or perhaps even in five years, could be things that customers ask ‘why are you doing that?’ and ‘is there another way you could do that?’” Brier said.
When questioned on the premise that the animal has to die so it can be consumed, Brier says the customer had made that choice.
“That’s an ethical decision that those people have to make,” he said.
He says the meat industry had to ensure every day that the animal lived up until the day it was killed was the best it could possibly have.
Cellphone technology has enabled farmers to be able to access consumers at the touch of a button, Federated Farmers dairy chair Wayne Langford says.
Right now, there was the emergence of the video-sharing social media platform TikTok. Langford believed this platform, used mostly by teenage girls, would be the next Facebook.
“What are we doing in our industry to market to those 13 to 18-year-old girls who will influence their mothers and they will control their households and will eventually become our consumers in 2035?” Langford asked.
“We have a really good opportunity to ingrain our story into what they are doing.”
