TO walk through the aisles of the supermarkets or scroll through social media at the moment, you will see all manner of advertisements for a high protein diet.
Whether it is Violet Crumble or Chuppa Chups protein powder, protein gummies or a good old Dare iced coffee with 30g of extra protein, the food industry has moved quickly to jump on the trend.
But if the supermarket shelves are anything to go by, the beef industry has not been as keen to shout about its product’s high protein content.
So, if the confectionary companies are jumping on the diet trends, should the beef industry be doing it too?
The question is not to undermine the decades of work that has gone into marketing Australian beef, which is now exported all over the world. It is more about whether these diet trends provide an opportunity to put forward the case for red meat in the ongoing debate about its role in diets and possibly win over some more Australian consumers who are eating less beef.
The high protein diet trend has come from all different directions. Dozens of fitness influencers have been promoting it as a way of losing weight and many people using anti-obesity medication, like Ozempic, are turning towards a high protein diet.
With beef and other animal sourced foods being the obvious ways of getting protein into the diet, the promotion has come organically – with 100s of video circulating like this one.
But the deep pockets of the food companies selling confectionery flavoured protein powder are clearly influencing the influencers. Just as many videos circulating, if not more, are pushing consumers to use their products.
It is latest in a series of diet trends that appear to be landing in the lap of the beef industry, including paleo, keto and the more recent and controversial carnivore diet.
Meat & Livestock Australia promotes the health attributes of beef on several channels, including its Australian Good Meat website and by sponsoring influencers to spread the message. It also showcases the large depth of talent in the Australian beef industry.
Most of the Australian Good Meat social media posts are about the environmental side of the beef industry and targets like carbon neutral by 2030. Its nutrition section of the website promotes the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommendation eating an average of 65g of lean, cooked red meat a day.
Diet, dietary guidelines and other official recommendations are likely to be a significant part of the public debate in the near future. Movements like the Dublin Declaration are challenging their limiting way of recommending meat in diets and the Trump administration in the United States is planning an overhaul.
As one producer recently pointed out to Beef Central, these diet trends are also raising some questions about the limitations on meat consumption.
Asked what it was doing to capture the high protein diet trend, an MLA spokesperson said:
“A significant part of MLA’s marketing and engagement is based around the enormous health benefits of Australian red meat,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes tapping into the growing awareness in the community of the importance of protein in a healthy diet. We know that athletes and fitness enthusiasts need high quality protein in their diet. These health benefits apply to everyone.
“As an industry, we know that the health benefits are obvious – but MLA is always looking to share that story with our consumers”
MLA could start by applying resources to directly engage with large retail companies, (and their ‘new wave’ directors), both of whom are being effectively influenced by organisations which seek to denigrate the protein and environmental advantages of supporting meat consumption.