AHDB Beef & Lamb multiple retail trade sector manager, Matt Southam, highlights
the growing importance of convenience as a key motivator of product choice for
consumers.
There is no avoiding the fact that consumer eating habits have changed
significantly in recent years, brought about by a number of factors, such as
increased time pressures, less cooking education as well as an increase in the
number of smaller households.
One of the most startling consequences, as far as the meat industry is
concerned, is the reduction in the amount of time consumers spend preparing and
cooking the evening meal – down from 60 minutes in 1980 to just 31 minutes in
2014.
We, as an industry, need to adapt and cater for these changes in consumer
lifestyles and needs. And that means focusing on convenience – offering a range
of easy-to-cook products and meal solutions that consumers don’t have to spend
hours preparing.
At AHDB Beef & Lamb, we recognised these changing dynamics a few years
ago and developed our Carvery range of mini roasts. The smaller roasting joints
are easy to prepare, require a reduced cooking time – in comparison to
traditional larger joints – and are versatile enough to be used as part of a
variety of meal solutions any day of the week. And that’s exactly how we are
marketing them. In fact, a few months ago we saw the return to television of
our Midweek Mini Roast advertising campaign, aimed at repositioning roasting
joints as a convenient and viable meal solution during the week.
One of our most recent product development initiatives – introduced with
convenience firmly in mind – is our new range of Thin Cut Steaks. Not only are
they quick to cook, but they are great value, lean and versatile. Thin Cut
Steaks provide an ideal ingredient for a variety of meal solutions, including
stir-fries, salads, stroganoff and sandwiches.
The ever-increasing demand for convenient meal solutions is backed by the
long-term move away from home-cooked meals to manufactured options. However,
this does not mean that consumers only want ready-meals as the desire to cook
is still there.
The ready-to-cook market presents the beef and lamb industry with a
significant opportunity to profit by providing pre-packed and pre-prepared meal
solutions. Research shows that consumers are willing to spend significantly
more on products that have been enhanced with a marinade, accompaniment or that
have been packaged in an oven-ready format.
The popularity of sous vide pre-cooked products that simply need to be
heated up is on the increase too. Where added value cuts such as the beef
brisket and lamb shoulder may have once been overlooked because of the lengthy
cooking time required, consumers can now get the fantastic tenderness and
flavours in a matter of minutes by simply reheating pre-prepared products.
Consumers’ desire to produce an appealing meal can be achieved in very little
time.
Convenience is a significant growth driver in the US too, as we discovered
at our World of
Innovation conference last autumn. New packaging concepts, for products
such as microwavable mince and all-in-one slow cooker bags, were showcased,
highlighting that the desire to cook in a hassle-free way is on the increase
across the world.
We expect this trend to continue and for consumers to demand more and more
convenient products. To attract these consumers, we need to offer them more beef
and lamb dishes that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.
My colleagues and I in the AHDB Beef & Lamb trade marketing team would
welcome the opportunity to discuss our latest product development initiatives
or work with retailers to optimise their product ranges to cater for the needs
of today’s consumers. Our contact details can be found here.