Oklahoma Farm Report - Glynn Tonsor's May Meat Demand Monitor Shows Increases in Meat Demand

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Glynn Tonsor's May Meat Demand Monitor Shows Increases in Meat Demand

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 08:45:52 CDT

Glynn Tonsor’s May Meat Demand Monitor Shows Increases in Meat Demand Meat demand for May 2021 has strongly increased across the board when compared to the previous month and continues to rise.

On today's Beef Buzz, Kansas State University agricultural economics professor and lead author on the Meat Demand Monitor survey, Glynn Tonsor, comments more on the data and what to expect looking to the future.

Tonsor first shared the May 2021 MDM report showed the demand for meat rose in both the retail and food service meat sectors.

Additionally, the report showed that taste, freshness, safety, and price remain the most important to consumers when purchasing protein.

Tonsor said one of the most notable differences is found when comparing May 2020 and May 2021 location of meals.

Last May, 62 percent of people had their lunch meal at home, while May 2021 reported a 13 point drop to 49 percent.

Similarly, in May 2020, a whopping 73 percent of dinner meals were consumed at home. This number is now down to 64 percent for May 2021.

More lunch and dinner meals being consumed away from home is consistent more people going back to the office or just taking more outings, Tonsor said.

One of the questions still yet to be answered is if we will ever get back to the 2019 levels of eating out versus eating in.

Tonsor said while it's still uncertain if we will get back to those numbers, he does not think this story is finished yet.

In the upcoming months he predicts seeing more foot traffic from those eager to get out and as more businesses reopen, specifically those on the coast.

Tonsor commented he has been able to tweak the MDM survey over time, which resulted in him recently adding four additional questions for respondents to answer related to food price inflation.

One question asks respondents to answer what they expect food prices to do the following month: Increase, decrease, or stay consistent. This question is asked for four meat products including ground beef, choice sirloin steak, a bacon product, and a boneless pork chop product, Tonsor said.

In the May 2021 MDM report, Tonsor said consumers have been expecting all four of the products to increase in price, and the magnitude of the price increases have been rising.

On average, consumers expected a 2.4 percent increase in steak prices, a 2 percent increase in ground beef prices, and a 2 percent increase for both bacon and pork chops.

"Of most note is the last three months consecutively across all four of these products, consumers are expecting higher increases in prices," Tonsor said. "That is consistent with not just a broader meat protein, but a broader whole food basket."

For additional data and the full May 2021 Meat Demand Monitor click here.

Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear more of Glynn Tonsor's comments.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.