New research conducted by British online meat retailer and sports nutrition brand www.gonutrition.com specifically asked UK consumers to share whether they have any concerns when purchasing meat.
Researchers were interested to discover whether the 2013 ‘horsemeat scandal’, and the constant media attention the meat industry has received following it, has had an impact on consumers’ trust.
A total of 2,384 adults aged over 18 were used in the study. All were meat eaters and were responsible for buying their own grocery products.
Respondents were initially asked where they were most likely to purchase their fresh meat from on a regular basis; with supermarkets (61%), local butchers/deli (19%), online (9%) and local farms (4%) emerging as the most common answers.
When also specifically asked whether they ever have any concerns when buying meat, around half of respondents (52%) stated that they did. Of this 52%, 96% had told researchers that they were most likely to purchase meat from supermarkets.
According to the research, the two main reasons for concern were, as predicted, the ‘horsemeat scandal’ – (72%), and news reports putting UK meat in a bad light – (67%).
Very few participants said they had had a personal experience where the meat itself appeared to be bad quality and only 11% said they had been put off buying meat due to stories they had heard from family or friends.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
