Consumer Beef Trends

At last week’s WSU Beef Production Conference, Certified Angus Beef Vice President of Production, Dr. Larry Corah shared some consumer trends when it comes to eating beef.
As any rancher knows today’s beef prices are at a record high, which is good news to their bottom line; however, that also means that there are increases to the prices at the grocery story meat counters. How does that affect consumer trends and demand? Dr. Corah explains
Corah: “From the consumer standpoint, the key thing we have to maintain is beef demand. From a beef demand standpoint, one of the things we are seeing consumers do is still demand a high quality product but they expect that if they are going to pay $12.99 or $14.99 for a strip steak or a t-bone or a ribeye that better be a good eating experience. And so, if it is not, they will share that with you. The other consumer-type trend is in the kind of beef they are consuming. A lot of ground beef consumption because ground beef is a tremendously flexible product. It can be used whether in tacos, whether in a mixed with a macron hot dish type of a deal — it can be used in a variety of ways. We are also seeing use of new cuts — some of the new flat irons, terris majors are becoming very popular in the restaurant trade. We are seeing beef instead of being sold by the pound, they are being sold by the serving. In other words, you will see something featured at $8.99 and you think, ‘Boy that is a great buy.’ because we think in terms of it being per pound in actual fact it is an 8 ounce portion serving. It really appeals to consumer.”