Dhe people in Germany are eating less and less meat. In 2022, 52 kilograms of meat were consumed per person, around 4.2 kilograms less than in the previous year. This is the result of preliminary figures from the Federal Information Center for Agriculture (BZL). This is the lowest level since calculations began in 1989.
According to the BZL, people ate around 2.8 kilograms less pork, 900 grams less beef and veal and 400 grams less poultry. For industry experts, the trend that has been observed for years is less remarkable than the extent of the decline. It was twice as high as in the previous year.
High prices as the main reason?
Heike Harstick, General Manager of the Meat Industry Association, sees the main reason for this in the dramatically increased prices for meat and meat products. “Inflation leads to reluctance to buy and reduced consumption,” she told the German Press Agency.
According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, beef, veal and pork were around 20 percent more expensive in December 2022 than a year earlier, and poultry had even risen by more than 30 percent. “It’s very clear that such inflation is having an impact on shopping behavior,” Harstick said. In addition, the meat industry suffers from an image problem due to negative reporting in the media.
The BZL sees an important reason for the declining meat consumption in the trend towards a plant-based diet. However, other experts interviewed considered the effects of this trend to be rather small due to the still small market shares of such products.
According to figures from the market research company GfK, the purchasing volumes for meat and sausages in the food trade even fell by 8.4 percent in 2022. According to GfK, it was also noticeable here that after the end of the corona restrictions, people were eating out more – in restaurants and canteens. GfK recently described the situation in the food trade with meat products with this sentence: “Due to the high prices, sales are hui, but the quantities are (still) ugh.”
According to the BLZ, the declining meat consumption is also reflected in meat production in Germany. Compared to the previous year, 9.8 percent less pork and 8.2 percent less beef and veal were produced. Net production of poultry meat fell by 2.9 percent.