I can’t believe it’s not beef! Can livestock compete with alternative proteins?

Livestock production and meat consumption has been under intense scrutiny in recent years, being labelled as a major contributor to climate change and associated with negative impacts on human health.

This has led to the development of a plant-based meat alternative industry which has been hailed as a major solution to climate change and improved human health, particularly in 2019-2020 when this study began.

This study’s original aim was to investigate the production of traditional protein and the new alternative protein technologies and find which product would dominate our plates in the future. Since then however, the world has changed, with a global pandemic and conflict interrupting food supply, affecting the general public’s perceptions of food. Globally the share price of some of these major meat alternative companies have fallen dramatically as their products have failed to penetrate markets as expected so far. However, we are still seeing a change in consumer habits and as a livestock industry we need to adapt to changing consumer demands in how we produce red meat and market the products.

The study focused on identifying consumer concerns which include welfare, environment, cost, and product quality, and what we as an industry should do to respond to these concerns to ensure our products stay on the table. Each country has different expectations of what they want from red meat in particular flavour and how they expect the animals to be reared.

The study saw travel to Australia, Ireland, and the United States alongside many other countries virtually during the pandemic, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany. Travel to major beef exporting nations who focus on consumer demand ensures customer satisfaction and has allowed business growth. Interviews were also conducted with many environmental and animal welfare NGOs to better understand wider concerns and recommendations for red meat production.

For a successful future, the UK red meat industry must take account of changing demands and react and build a resilient supply-chain focused on animal welfare, environmentally friendly products reducing climate impact while also improving wider biodiversity and water quality. The study recommends the need to focus on meat eating quality to ensure customers have a positive experience with our products every time they consume them. The United States and Australia have both implemented technologies to reward beef producers which have improved eating quality characteristics, and this study recommends that a similar approach should be taken in the UK. The report also recommends that each producer should review their business to identify and capitalise on their strengths, to produce beef in a way that is resilient to extremes and produce products that meet consumer demand.