NEW STUDY SHOWS WHAT DRIVES CONSUMERS' BEEF DEMANDS

A new study of the factors that drive beef demand finds that price, food safety and product quality are the top issues for consumers.

One of the authors of the study, Kansas State University livestock marketing professor Dr. Ted Schroeder, concludes that food safety is the most important factor and one that the industry can positively influence.

"We know that we have issues surrounding bacterial contaminations, and other kinds of contaminants that can occur and can get into our production and food stream," says Schroeder. "We need to have interventions that the industry as a whole invests in and meticulously tries to manage, to reduce the incidences and the problems associated with those kinds of food safety occurrences or events."

But in addition to those "actual" food safety issues, Schroeder says the industry must also deal with food safety "misperceptions".

"A consumer might have a food safety perception about something that really has nothing to do with food safety," he says, "and we've seen that at times in the beef industry-and it has, at times, had influence on our demand."

Other important beef demand drivers identified in the study were health, nutrition, social aspects and sustainability. But Schroeder says food safety and product quality are the two attributes the industry can most feasibly influence.

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