Consumer insights: Meat shopper journey

Retail sales of beef, pork and lamb in the UK were worth £13.2 billion in 2025 (Worldpanel by Numerator, 52 w/e 28 December 2025). Consumers are under increasing pressure from rising food prices, so we conducted this study with market research agency Sparkminds to understand what drives their decisions when buying red meat in-store.

Although spend on red meat has increased over the last few years, the amount bought has declined.

This research highlights the key differences between what shoppers say they do versus what they actually do in-store. It highlights how the meat industry can influence consumers at home with recipe ideas for affordable weekday meals and luxury weekend treats.

It also shows clear opportunities in the meat aisle, where well‑signposted ranges, strong quality cues, fresh appetising meat, value messaging and British assurance can help shoppers choose what to buy and re‑engage shoppers with red meat.

This research provides meat suppliers and retailers with evidence as to what is driving pre-shop decisions such as menu choices, meal planning and in-store decisions like proteins, cuts, tiers, appearance, price and product credentials.

This research was last done in 2018 but after COVID-19 and the recent cost-of-living crisis, up to date understanding was needed to guide the industry and drive change.

• Before visiting a store, shoppers claimed price was the key driver when buying meat. But once they were in the aisle, how the meat looked mattered more than the price. Many shoppers closely check the appearance of meat as it reassures them of good quality and is a proxy for great taste
• During the week, consumers are choosing familiar meat products that are easy to use in different meals. At the weekend they look for more premium options as a treat. Communications should reflect this shift by championing versatility for weekdays and highlighting premium options for weekends
• Shoppers spend more time carefully browsing the fixture to make sure they choose the best product. So, make sure they can easily see the meat’s quality and that it’s well merchandised with clear labelling and cooking instructions
• Switching meat products from what was on the shopping list is generally driven by promotions in-store. This gives the opportunity to tempt shoppers to try new cuisines and added value ranges
• Shoppers are looking for the best quality meat product at best price, so will check tiers and work out how much they will actually save from promotions
• British meat is widely recognised for its quality and high production standards, but shoppers have a limited understanding of what assurance marks mean
• Shoppers are visiting more retailers in search of the best quality meat at the best price – 88% of people do ‘main shops’ in more than one supermarket. To get them to buy in-store, clearly communicate quality, range and price at the meat fixture

For this project, we used a two-stage mixed methodology. This allowed us to explore the nuances of what shoppers claim they do versus how they actually behave in-store.

Stage one

We used an online quantitative survey of 2,504 meat shoppers with a representative sample of UK main shoppers.

This explored attitudes and behaviours to broader background factors like, meal planning and buying meat. Representative quotas were set on retailers, proteins and types of cuts purchased.

Stage two

• We conducted 1,070 in-store observations across a range of retailers to understand main shop versus top-up shop and the related decision-making process. This included recording how long shoppers spent at the meat fixture and how this varied by protein and as well as quantities bought
• We also carried out 360 in-store surveys with shoppers on the day to better understand their shopping mission and how they made decisions in-store
• We conducted 50 shopper safaris with pre-recruited meat shoppers to explore their buying journey, decision-making process and what influences them at the meat fixture
• Retailers in the stage two process included Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Co-op, Waitrose and Aldi

Proteins: Representative samples across beef, pork, lamb, chicken and added-value meals.

Protein by cut: Representative samples across diced, chops, breast, minced, steak, roasting joint/whole bird, processed and added value.