Beef consumption patterns

The stable average per capita beef consumption in the EU of around 20 kg per year since 1961 conceals wide fluctuations in the individual countries. Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy have increased their consumption of beef, whereas consumption in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and France, has fallen. Since the 1970s there has been a tendency towards a slightly falling consumption of beef per capita in the EU taken as a whole. When, in March 1996, British scientists made it clear that there is a likely connection between consumption of BSE-infected beef and contraction of the deadly Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, beef consumption plummeted and, in 1997, the average consumption of beef per capita in the EU had declined to 19 kg-the same level as in 1961.

Beef's share of total meat consumption has diminished significantly since 1961: in 1961, 38 per cent of total meat consumption was beef; in 1998 it was only 21.8 per cent. This decline has been to the advantage of pork and especially poultry. The share of poultry has risen from 11 per cent in 1961 to 24.9 per cent in 1998. Pork reached a share of 50 per cent in 1998 from a level of 43 per cent in 1961. The consumption of sheep and goat meat fell from 7 per cent in 1961 to 3.3 percent in 1998.

There have also been changes in the type of product sold. Minced beef has increased its share of the total beef volume sold, probably as a result of its lower price and its versatility in contemporary dishes. The increasing popularity of cooking sauces, especially pasta sauces, is believed to be a major reason for the increase in mince's share of beef sales. An explanation of the decreasing popularity of beef joints could be the lack of convenience of large-sized joints, which do not fit into the lifestyles of, in particular, the growing number of one- or two-person households. It should be noted, however, that since the latest BSE crisis, experts have made recommendations to avoid minced beef in order to minimize the risk of consumers being exposed to infected beef.

Industry studies show that young people under 16 and older people over 65 tend to consume less beef relative to other foods and that consumers who eat a lot of beef compared to other foods are to be found in the age groups 17 to 34 years and 35 to 64 years. Women tend to consume less beef than men. The consumption of beef tends to increase with income and social class. For example, research in Belgium has distinguished between blue-collar, white-collar, self-employed and non-active consumers, and found that general meat consumption is higher among the self-employed and the non-active population, and that beef's share of meat consumption was significantly lower among white-collar workers than among the other groups. Another demographic trend with a potential for changing consumer preferences is the increasing number of women in paid employment, a development that creates time pressure on families, making them less inclined to buy, for example, beef joints that are time-consuming to prepare. Again, the growth in the number of one- or two-person households, which demand smaller cuts of meat, will also affect the demand for large beef joints.

The decline of beef consumption relative to meats like poultry suggests that general health concerns are also an issue. Consumers choose the leaner poultry because animal fat has been connected with coronary heart disease, obesity and cancer. Studies have found that consumers were inclined to avoid red meat (not white meat like poultry) when confronted with hypothetical advice to lower saturated fat intake, which has been found to be a contributing factor to coronary heart disease. A pan-EU survey of consumer attitudes towards foods, nutrition and health, involving approximately 14,000 respondents in the 15 member countries, showed that 17 per cent of consumers, when asked to describe 'healthy eating' in their own words, mentioned 'eating less red meat, and more fish and chicken'. In the same survey 'eating less fat' was mentioned most often, namely by 48 per cent of respondents.