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IF you have been down to Bondi Beach or any popular public space on a Saturday morning in recent times, then you might have noticed one trend that appears to be pushing people towards red meat.

That is the amount of people exercising – prioritising their health and fitness over other traditional weekend activities that may not be as good for someone’s health.

Multiple data points are now showing an increase in consumption of red meat in both Australia and United States, despite increasing prices.

This week, Meat & Livestock Australia released its latest consumer sentiment survey (conducted by Pollinate), with more respondents looking to increase their meat consumption than respondents who were looking to decrease meat consumption.

Speaking to the Week in Beef podcast, MLA managing director Michael Crowley said while there are many reasons behind consumption of red meat, the latest health and fitness craze was a big driver of the recorded increases.

“People are either wanting to lose weight or they are wanting to be fit and strong – they are chasing protein for both of those reasons,” Mr Crowley said.

“Red meat being nutrient-dense, nutrient-diverse and with the bioavailability of those nutrients people are choosing red meat. What a great story for our sector.

“People are seeking out whole foods, they don’t want manufactured foods and we are really in a great spot to connect with those consumers.”

Protein claims doing the work for the industry

Among those indicating to increase their red meat intake, 87pc cited health-related reasons, including its value as a source of iron (51pc) and protein (58pc).

MLA managing director Michael Crowley

If brand claims in supermarkets are anything to go by, a diet high in protein is a popular trend at the moment. A search for “high protein” on the Coles website returns 130 results, including breads, museli, granola, nutri-grain and dips.

Interestingly, Coles was not displaying any meat products as “high protein” in the search.

Woolworths, on the other hand, was presenting meat as high protein, with the same search returning 1996 items.

While weight loss and health and fitness are playing a part in the high protein craze, doctors are also recommending high protein when prescribing weight loss drugs, like Ozempic.

Mr Crowley said supermarket brands jumping on the high protein trend were inadvertently elevating the profile of red meat.

“The calling out of profiles on labels is really elevating the profile of protein,” he said.

“When you start looking at what is most protein-rich foods, red meat comes right at the top of the list.”

Still more work to do

While the current trends are positive for the red meat industry, the results have been negative in the past – with pressure from other sectors to reduce red meat consumption in diets.

If the recent release of the EAT Lancet 2.0 report is anything to go by, the pressure is still on. Its first report was recommending people eat 14g of red meat/day and for that to be achieved through “hard policy interventions”. The second report strikes a similar tone.

“There is an ideologically driven agenda there, EAT Lancet were recommending a daily intake of red meat that was lower than the daily intake of sugar,” Mr Crowley said.

“I think trust has been eroded because people are confused, so the best thing we can do is continue to build trust, continue to be transparent, continue to get producers to tell the story and continue to connect with the community.”

Mr Crowley said the percentage of respondents clicking the “vegetarian” button was the lowest it has been in a while.

“People ticking the box to say they are vegetarians were 4pc, which is the lowest it has been in quite a while. Quite of those people who say they are vegetarian do occasionally eat meat, so about 3pc of the population are true vegetarians or vegan,” he said.

“That has been stable for a while, but it highlights that we still need to be out on the front foot.

“There is no more authentic voice than a livestock producer.”