LUBBOCK, TX – Affordability is becoming more important in consumer protein purchases, even as taste, freshness, price, and safety remain the dominant factors, according to Kansas State University’s Meat Demand Monitor.
Professor Glynn Tonsor tracked 12 protein-purchase values across 79 months from February 2020 through August 2026. Taste, freshness, price, and safety ranked as the top four attributes in every month.
Over that period, price, nutrition, and health all gained statistically significant importance. Environmental impact, hormone- and antibiotic-free claims, and origin declined significantly as consumers shifted priorities within the forced-ranking system.
The method requires respondents to rank four attributes most important, four in the middle, and four least important. Because the measure is zero-sum, one attribute can rise only if another falls, making the shifts more meaningful.
The findings suggest consumers are placing greater weight on affordability and personal benefit while giving less priority to some production-related claims. Animal welfare also declined, although the material does not identify that change as statistically significant.
Farm-Level Takeaway: Meat demand remains anchored by eating experience and safety, while affordability, nutrition, and health are gaining influence.