Ranch it Up Weekly Report Episode 74

Consumer Meat Trends: Ground Beef No. 1

Millennial Meat Consumers Prefer Ground Beef Over All Other Meats

Consumer trends, food trends, how have these trends changed?  Who is consuming our product and why.  That was the purpose of the Power of Meat Presentation at the 2025 Annual Meat Conference.  The 20th such survey, the Power of Meat polled more than 1,600 consumers, and overlaid their responses with data from in-person consumer interviews and various other avenues with particular attention given to millennial shoppers as they start to take the place as meat consumers.

According to the survey, ground beef was the number 1 food category of the year – among 85,000 other foods – in terms of dollar growth from 2023 to 2024, and chicken was not far behind at No. 10. All told, ground beef sales last year were up 9.6% to $15.3 billion, with unit sales up 6.8% to $1.6 billion.

With a lot of focus on the millennial shopper here are some of the compelling trends that were established:

• With 94% of consumers concerned about the cost of living (“astronomical” was a frequent word among surveys), and the average price per unit of meat up 34% from 2019, more and more consumers want to recreate the restaurant experience at home; as a result, retail sales for meat reached $104.6 billion in 2024 (up 1%), and pounds hit 22.8 billion (up 2.3%).
• 72% of consumers said they’d return to normal restaurant purchases if their budget allowed it.
• Of the meat case’s 2024 growth in units sold, millennials accounted for 62% of that growth, and for dollar sales growth.
• The survey showed opportunities for processors to advertise specific features on their product’s packaging, including: cook times; proper cooking appliances (especially air fryers for millennials); the nutrients in meat, such as zinc and iron; and finally, messaging around animal welfare, which is prominent in the UK and other European markets.