The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) has revealed that following a survey of Northern Ireland (NI) consumer eating habits, over 90% of consumers in the country said they enjoyed eating red meat.
The statistic was drawn from a recent independent omnibus survey commissioned by LMC to examine the current eating habits of NI consumers and to evaluate their awareness of Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef and lamb, as well as their familiarity with the Commission's advertising campaign, Good Honest Food.
LMC chief executive Colin Smith said: "This is an extremely encouraging statistic and reiterates the prominent and valued place red meat has on our plates.
"Consumer commitment to eating and purchasing red meat remains steady. In terms of alternate diets, there has been no notable variation to the number of consumers reporting to follow vegetarian and vegan diets over recent years. At the time of our research a low level of just 2% of NI consumers claimed to follow a vegan diet."
LMC said a key area of its work is educating and informing the public about the benefits of eating beef and lamb as part of a healthy, balanced diet, and the "positive environmental and sustainable attributes" of these red meats.
Smith continued: "LMC is at the fore of leading the conversations about the health, environmental and sustainable credentials of beef and lamb. Our messaging on this is well received, with 85% of consumers stating they believe NIFQA beef is high quality and 77% agree it is a natural source of vitamins and minerals.
"Data gleaned from our recent research indicates that consumers make conscious and informed decisions about the foods they eat. We are pleased that for the vast majority of NI consumers this means having beef and lamb on their plates."
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.
