Animal Welfare: 3 Trending Opportunities For Food Companies

58% of consumers are concerned about animal welfare, finds Packaged Facts who also identifies key opportunities involving marketing, links to healthfulness & sustainability, and the flexitarian trend

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Packaged Facts

Apr 24, 2017, 10:17 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer perceptions of healthy eating are changing. While typically on the lookout for foods lower in fat, sugar, salt, and calories while high in fiber, vitamins, and calcium and other minerals, consumers are now more interested in products that are free of gluten, artificial ingredients, genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, and growth hormones, while being high in protein.

In recent years, these preferences have further expanded to include products that make claims about production methodology, such as free-range, cage-free, or no gestation crates. In other words, there is increasing demand for products identified as having been created under humane conditions for the farm animals that source these products, according to market research Packaged Facts in the brand new report, Animal Welfare: Issues and Opportunities in the Meat, Poultry, and Egg Markets.

According to Packaged Facts, a growing range of consumers are paying more attention to the treatment of food animals. Packaged Facts data show that 58% of consumers agree that they are becoming more concerned about the treatment of animals raised for food.

"Consumer concern over animal welfare issues has reached critical mass in the meat and poultry industries, creating a new generation of challenges and opportunities," comments David Sprinkle, research director, Packaged Facts, who also penned a recent blog on the topic of humanely raised meats.

As indicated in the report title, Animal Welfare: Issues and Opportunities in the Meat, Poultry, and Egg Markets, Packaged Facts pinpoints several key opportunities for food and beverage companies. Below are three of Packaged Facts' most essential animal welfare opportunities. More opportunities can be viewed by purchasing the report on Packaged Facts' website.

Marketing animal-welfare related practices an essential competitive action: As attested to by the proliferation of grass-fed beef and related products, the range of consumers, organizations, and marketers engaging with animal welfare issues has passed the tipping point. Correspondingly, Packaged Facts anticipates the range of and competition from products marketed on animal-welfare related attributes will continue to increase. Looking ahead, successful marketers will leverage their engagement in animal welfare-related practices through labeling, advertising, and promotion, rather than risk getting caught behind the curve.
Leveraging links between animal welfare and product healthfulness & sustainability: Consumers increasingly link livestock animal welfare issues to the healthfulness of meat, poultry, and dairycase products. For example, Packaged Facts' survey data show that more than half (53%) of U.S. adults agree that meat and poultry is healthier if the animal was raised humanely. Likewise, sustainability is of increasing urgency to citizens, businesses, and governments around the world. As a result, consumers also increasingly link sustainability concerns with animal welfare. Shrewd companies will find ways to incorporate animal welfare claims into their value-added and premium-priced products, while also leveraging the inherent link to sustainability.
Catering to the flexitarian trend: Humans in general and Americans in particular are a very long way from becoming primarily consumers of plant-based protein. Nevertheless, the balance between animal and plant protein is being reset in the U.S. diet, with flexitarianism increasingly weighing on the scales. Packaged Facts survey data show that 21% of U.S. consumers report cutting back on red meat in the last few years. The survey data also show that almost half (49%) of U.S. adults agree that increasing consumption of vegetarian sources of protein is better for the environment. Unsurprisingly, some animal-based protein companies are already looking to the future by investing in or acquiring plant-based protein companies, as well as next-generation meat substitute products. Expect this trend to gain momentum as marketers respond to the growing demand by vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians for more and better products.

About the Report

In this groundbreaking report, Packaged Facts charts the new challenges and opportunities for retail marketers of meat, poultry, eggs, and related products and menu items.

In addition, Animal Welfare: Issues and Opportunities in the Meat, Poultry, and Egg Markets examines marketing and product opportunities for retail and foodservice marketers stemming from changing consumer attitudes and escalating concerns about food animal welfare. The report also examines the role of federal and state government agencies in setting animal welfare guidelines, and the increasing role of animal welfare organizations, especially those that offer certification to animal protein marketers.

View more information about Animal Welfare: Issues and Opportunities in the Meat, Poultry, and Egg Markets, including purchase options, the abstract, table of contents, and related reports at Packaged Facts' website: https://www.packagedfacts.com/Animal-Welfare-Meat-10771767/?progid=89179.

More Packaged Facts reports on foods and beverages are available for purchase at: https://www.packagedfacts.com/food-beverage-market-c84/.

About Packaged Facts

Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.

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SOURCE Packaged Facts