ABOVE: Over the past 12 months, consumers’ perceptions of pork in comparison to other animal proteins have strengthened in key areas.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences recently released its agricultural commodities report for the March quarter of 2024, which provided forecasts for the value, volume and price of Australia’s agricultural production and exports.
The report revealed that on average in 2022-23, Australians consumed about 26.8kg of pig meat per person, which includes both fresh and processed pork products.
This number, while forecast to slightly decline over the next two years, is set to strengthen again with a projected estimate of 28.4kg by 2028, continuing the steady growth that pork has experienced since the 1980s.
This places pork as the second most consumed protein in Australia, behind only chicken, having overtaken beef during 2014.
Taking a look at the broader picture of total meat consumption in Australia, in 2022-23, Australians consumed approximately 104kg per person.
Total meat consumption has been on a slow recovery from a dip in 2019 (100kg per person) and is projected to reach up to 108kg come 2028.
These are encouraging numbers to read given cost of living pressures and tightening of household budgets, proving there is still a desire for meat in Australian diets.
In a recent Australian Pork Limited survey of 1500 respondents, over half agreed with the statements ‘I love meat’ and ‘meat is important to nutrition’.
This shows there is still love for meat, despite making up just over a third of the average household grocery bill, sourced from the 2023 APL shopper panel study.
Shoppers are finding ways to deal with this expense – by shopping around at several retailers to find the best deal and looking for the cheapest price in a range of preferred cuts they’re familiar with preparing.
While there is a portion of the Australian community who purposely have some nights with no meat cooked or served for varying reasons including budget, the proportion of the Australian consumer who identify themselves as following a plant-based or non-meat diet remains very low.
Of those APL surveyed recently, the diet with the highest claim rate was flexitarianism, with 11 percent of respondents claiming to follow this diet, and only 3 percent claiming a vegetarian diet.
Vegan diets were even smaller, with only 1 percent of respondents claiming this diet.
These numbers highlight that while we hear a lot about plant-based diets today, the majority of Australians still include meat in their meals.
On a pork note, encouragingly over the past 12 months, consumers’ perceptions of pork in comparison to other animal proteins have strengthened in some key areas.
With good value for money, being a versatile meat and a good option for the midweek dinner table having all strengthened.
When considering what meat to buy in their grocery shop, these perceptions are important factors to consumers, being three of the top four drivers that increase the likelihood of going on to purchase that meat.
This means that pork is currently sitting in a great position for getting more pork in the trolley.
Teagan Levett
APL Insights Manager
