Cost of living crisis is the focus of two AHDB webinars

Our Retail and Consumer Insight team has taken an in-depth look at the impact of the struggling economy on household budgets, buying behaviours as well as the foodservice and retail markets to predict short and longer-term demand for beef, lamb, pork and dairy products.

Analysts have also explored how the current climate is impacting consumer attitudes towards some of the biggest key reputational factors for industry such as trust, environment, health and animal welfare.

Our findings will be explored in two webinars next month, providing stakeholders, levy payers and the retail sector with valuable insight into what the future could hold.

The first webinar, on Thursday 13 October, will focus on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on meat and dairy demand, while the second on Thursday 20 October will explore the impact of the economy on consumer attitudes towards the industry.

Senior Consumer Insight Manager Steven Evans said: “The cost-of-living crisis is having a major impact on all sectors and AHDB has taken an in-depth look at how squeezed household budgets are affecting demand for red meat and dairy as well as consumer attitudes towards key reputational risks for the industry.

“Our webinars will provide a valuable opportunity for levy payers to hear more about these important topics, the opportunities that still exist as well as gain a greater understanding of what the future could hold for their sector.”

The first webinar will expand on recent insight into the foodservice and retail sectors, highlighting where consumers are making savings and which products are mostly affected. In retail, discounters now have the highest ever share of grocery and this is expected to increase further with more cash-strapped shoppers looking to make their budgets go further.

IGD predict discounters will grow 23.9% over the next five years – the fastest and largest growth of grocery channels, delivering an additional £7.1 billion in sales.

In the 12 weeks ending 12 June 2022, Kantar Worldpanel data showed hard discounters – which are Aldi and Lidl – accounted for 18% of dairy sales and in the 12 weeks ending 10 July 2022, they accounted for 20% of meat fish and poultry volumes.

Research has also shown that for foodservice, recovering from the pandemic was already daunting enough. However, rising costs, labour shortages and supply chain issues have put inflationary pressure on an already struggling market.

Senior Retail Insight Manager Kim Heath said: “If we look at just dine-out, which includes food-to-go, breakfast and lunch now make up fewer trips compared to 2019. With consumers dining out less than 2019, it’s unsurprising that all meats are being impacted.

“There is a real need for establishments to offer different deals to value-seeking customers and this will be further heightened as financial pressures worsen.”

The second webinar on 20 October will explore the impact of the current consumer landscape across important reputational factors, highlighting the challenges and opportunities. Previous research has shown that farmers are the most trusted group in the supply chain and the session will look at what drives that trust and how it plays out across different groups of consumers.