Why the consumer is buying less lamb – insight from EBLEX shows it’s not just about price

This year consumers have bought 6% less lamb than last, and the decline seems to be speeding up. In the last 12 weeks consumers bought 11% less lamb than they did in the same period last year.

These are scary numbers and the pessimist might envisage a time not very far away when consumer demand for lamb is about half of its current level, with a similar fall in demand for livestock.

A recent EBLEX report gives clues about why lamb is out of favour, and what can be done to reverse the drop.

The 500 meat eating women interviewed each quarter by EBLEX say that the main reason they don’t buy lamb as much as other proteins like chicken, beef or pork is that lamb is too expensive.

So far so predictable many might think. But price is not the whole story. What makes people buy anything, even the very highest priced products, is their perception of whether the product in question is good value for money, and most cuts of lamb are seen as “not at all good”, or “not very good” value. The exception is lamb mince which is just about neutral – neither good nor bad.

All sorts of factors come into the value equation, and compared with other proteins lamb is rated worse on versatility, on ease of cooking, and especially on fat content. 57% of people say lamb “can be fatty” compared with 46% for pork, 28% for beef, and 5% for poultry.

Lamb falls down on other health aspects. Consumers feel that lamb is not as protein rich as beef, and do not realise it is as good a source of vitamins and minerals as beef.

The one positive point is that consumers view lamb as a tasty food.

So what should be done?

Lamb needs to be given an image makeover. EBLEX suggests that its versatility and health benefits need to be promoted. To this could be added using imagination to present unpopular cuts such as shoulder in a better way. One supermarket for example sells shoulder chops – butchered in a way that ensures they are just as tender as from the leg, but around half the price, and far less time consuming than cooking a roast.

Producers could focus even harder on reducing the number of over fat lambs sent into the food chain, and processors and producers together might find ways of ensuring that the product is consistently of high quality when it reaches the consumer, which is not always the case at the moment.

The EBLEX findings are important to all in the lamb supply chain. A strong home market forms the backbone of the sector, cushioning participants from the ups and downs of exports, and from the ebb and flow of lamb supply.It is critical to ensuring a consistently profitable future.