Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with Kansas State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Glynn Tonsor, about the latest information from the meat demand monitor he oversees at Kansas State. The monitor works with both the beef and pork checkoffs in tracking retail and food service meat demand on a monthly basis.
Tonsor said the latest data shows some issues regarding meat demand looking back at the month of June.
“The punchline in June is the domestic retail channel, demand slipped compared to May for six of the eight products that we track, and that includes both beef and pork products we track,” Tonsor said.
In June, Tonsor said beef and pork retail was down compared to May and compared to the previous year. Demand for all eight evaluated meals in the food service category was down from May, Tonsor said, specifically the dinner meal.
“All four in the beef and pork space we track are down versus June of 2022,” Tonsor said. “So, a simple and unfortunate summary is this metric shows June domestic meat demand fell compared to May and is lower than June of 2022.”
Tonsor also talked about consumers making different purchasing decisions because of high prices. Those who are less likely to eat at a restaurant, he said, also are more likely to make more cost-efficient decisions at the grocery store.
“We track what is called the protein values,” Tonsor said. “And it is which of the four presented 12 items are most important to you in your protein decision and which four are the least.”
Price is the third most important value of the 12, Tonsor said, and taste and freshness are the most important. Price has gained more importance over the last year, Tonsor added.
“The trend over time is the top four: taste, freshness, safety, and price are very consistent,” Tonsor said. “What has changed a little bit over a year ago is price overtook safety in relative rank, but that is not a big change. It went from four to three. Safety went from three to four, so small reordering.”
The meat demand monitor also tracks consumers’ expectations on how prices will move in the coming months. Most consumers in the June survey expected prices to go a little higher.
To check out the latest Meat Demand Monitor released on June 30, 2023, click here.
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