Study of the functioning of the meat

market for consumers in the EU

- outcomes

28 June 2013

Paulina Gbur

Background

• Monitoring of consumer markets from a consumer perspective - in-depth market studies

• Weaker performance of the meat market in the Consumer Markets Scoreboard

• Ranked particularly low for trust that the retailers/suppliers are compliant with the consumer protection rules

• Market highly regulated at the EU and national levels

• 4% of the household budget

2

Results and conclusions – main areas

3

Information aspects

When they buy meat, consumers mainly look for information on date, price and origin

Consistent with consumer priorities

4

68%

67%

67%

48%

44%

32%

26%

22%

21%

18%

18%

17%

12%

12%

8%

5%

65%

66%

66%

49%

40%

32%

28%

24%

21%

20%

19%

18%

12%

13%

10%

6%

77%

74%

70%

47%

56%

31%

19%

14%

19%

11%

15%

13%

13%

6%

4%

1%

Use by/best before date

Price per kilogram

Price

The country of origin

Producer

Ingredients

Origin certified

Animal welfare certified

Nutritional values

Organic

Meat with nutrition claims

Animal fed with GMO free feed

Made from combined meat pieces

Environment/climate certified

Slaughtered according to religious rites

None of these

Q12. And which of the following aspects do you look for when you buy fresh meat/meat products/non-/pre-packed meat?

EU27 EU15 EU12

Base: All who ever buy this type of product (13266)Source: Functioning of the meat market – Consumer Survey DataSource: Functioning of the meat market – Consumer Survey Data

Information availability

• Availability of information checked by mystery shoppers Use by / best before date available for 90% of meat

assessed Price per unit for 92% Country of origin for 86% Quality certificate referring to origin for 40%,

nutritional value information for 44%, animal welfare information for 20%, nutritional claims for 18% and organic label on 15%

• Information less available in butchers than in hyper- and supermarkets

5

Information sources

6

68%

59%

56%

31%

25%

16%

14%

14%

14%

13%

11%

11%

8%

68%

59%

54%

27%

26%

16%

16%

14%

14%

14%

13%

11%

9%

68%

58%

63%

44%

24%

13%

7%

13%

13%

9%

6%

11%

4%

Labels on the package

Labels on the shelf/counter

Staff at the retailer

Friends/family

Information points in shops (e.g. posters, brochures, etc.)

Producers, e.g. websites, advertisements

Consumer organisations

Newspapers/ magazines

Television programmes

The Internet, e.g. forums, articles

Non-governmental organisations (for example environmental and animal welfare groups)

Medical doctors

None of these

Q11. What sources of information do you use for your meat purchases?

EU27 EU15 EU12

Base: All who ever buy this type of product (13173)Source: Functioning of the meat market – Consumer Survey DataSource: Functioning of the meat market – Consumer Survey Data

For their meat purchases, consumers mainly use labels and retailer's staff as the sources of information.

Consumer understanding of information

• Limited understanding of labels and logos 36% of EU respondents indicated correctly the meaning of

the best before label

4% knew the meaning of the PDO logo

23% knew the exact meaning of a ‘low fat’ label

• Cues to assess quality and safety of meat

Consumer perceptions often differ from scientific

assessments

7

Communication and education

• Differences between countries in the use of particular information sources by consumers

• Consumer groups, doctors and scientists most trusted in case of a food risk

8

Meat consumption and health

• Consumers faced with two messages, concerning a positive and a negative impact of meat consumption on health

• Impact of meat on health is important for EU consumers, however their satisfaction with this aspect is not high (36% respondents are satisfied)

• Consumers have a limited interest in nutritional values, limited knowledge of meat with nutritional or health claims (35% of respondents knew it), and they rarely buy this type of meat (15%). However, 31% of respondents would like to buy it more often.

9

Safety of meat

• Two in five consumers are convinced that in their country appropriate measures are taken in case of a food risk related to meat (significant differences between countries)

• Consumers are not aware of their role in safe handling of meat

10

Consumer awareness and purchases of specific meat types

11

76%

55%

49%

44%

35%

25%

15%

11%

90%

60%

32%

16%

22%

15%

4%

5%

11%

79%

Meat for which the

country of origin is specified

Origin certified

Organic

Animal welfare certified

Meat with nutrition claims on better

nutritional values

Slaughtered according

to religious rites

Environment/climate

certified

None of these

At least one type

Q2.Q3. Awareness and purchase of specific types of meat

Awareness Purchase

The largest gap between the share of consumers who know a specific type of meat and the share of those who purchase it, can be observed for meat with organic and environmental/climate certifications. Consumer knowledge of specific meat types (e.g. organic or quality certified) often goes in line with their priorities and information aspects they look for when they buy meat

12

More organic products were found by mystery shoppers in the minced beef and chicken categories than others More origin certified products were assessed in the pork sausages and whole chicken categories The highest proportion of animal welfare certified meat was found in the whole chicken category

Availability of specific types of meat

There is also a gap

between consumer intentions and their behaviour

13 Q10A. Would you like to buy more often the following types of meat or meat products?

10%

27%

18%

30%

32%

30%

30%

31%

31%

20%

29%

32%

31%

32%

41%

41%

43%

43%

18%

29%

29%

31%

32%

38%

39%

40%

41%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Slaughtered according to religiousrites

Regular meat

Environment/climate certified

Meat with nutrition claims on betternutritional values, e.g.

None of these

Meat I would choose because of thecountry of origin

Origin certified

Animal welfare certified

Organic

EU27

EU15

NMS12

EU27

EU15

EU12

Intentions to buy specific meat types more often

Obstacles to buying specific meat types

• The main obstacles between consumer intentions and behaviour seem to be: a too high price, insufficient choice or unavailability at the retailer or lack of information

• At the EU level, organic meat is 66% more expensive than regular meat, for animal welfare certified and origin (quality) certified the difference is 20%

14

ORGANIC 57%

22%

20%

18%

12%

10%

9%

It is too expensive

The selection of this type of meat at my retailer is not

wide enough

This type of meat is not available at my main retailer

I am not sufficiently well informed

I do not trust the certification schemes

It is hard to change my purchasing habits

Other

Q10B. (If) you indicated that you would like to buy more, please give the reason(s) for not doing so currently.

Organic

Base: All who want to buy this type

of meat more often (9135)Source: Functioning of the meat market – Consumer Survey Data

Sustainability

• 23% of respondents threw away edible meat

• Average financial loss – 9 EUR per month → over 360 million EUR per month overall in the EU

• Main reasons for waste: the meat was over its durability date, respondents prepared/cooked or purchased too much

• 32% of EU consumers would like to buy meat less often, mainly for health reasons and because meat is too expensive

15

GMO-free feed

• Some consumers attach particular importance to the fact whether meat comes from animal fed with GMO-free feed

Meat from animals slaughtered according to religious rites

• Average awareness and interest not high

16

Thank you for your attention

Reports available under the link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_research/mar

ket_studies/meat_market_study_en.htm

paulina.gbur@ec.europa.eu

17