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By Alice McFarlane

Trends in protein consumption

The factors shaping the protein buying patterns of consumers

Nov 6, 2025 | 3:52 PM

The technological revolution and demographics are increasingly shaping consumer buying patterns.

Watching those trends is Lisa Keefe, a journalist who specializes in food protein. She spoke to the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium in Saskatoon, Sask. this week. Her presentation focused on what consumers are buying and how they are changing.

She said, regardless of what you may hear, consumers are always going to be price sensitive.

“I don’t care what customers say in surveys about how much they value other qualities in their proteins; price is always the number one driver,” she said. “The other one that is number two with a bullet, is convenience. Anything a producer can do to carve just a few minutes out for the customer having to prepare a meal is going to find favor with that shopper. It’s going to wind up with a bigger basket at the retail end of things.”

Keefe said changes in lifestyle impacts food purchase decisions. She said we have all the conveniences like computers, email and social media, but it’s not putting time back into our lives. It’s taking it out.

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“If a product tastes good, and it’s faster and easier to prepare, it’s going to find favor with the shopper in the aisle at the point of sale. Bonus points for hooking younger consumers with new tastes, new cuisines, marinades, new cuts that fit into a broader variety of world cuisines that younger consumers are much more exposed to at an earlier age than your older generations were when they were coming up,” she said.

Keefe said younger consumers want cuts that can be prepared in different ways but remain convenient at the same time.

She said younger consumers, which include older and younger millennials to Generation Z in their 20s, have been exposed to more ideas. In return, they demand more of everything.

“They want more convenience, but they also want cleaner labels. They want higher quality, but in portions that bring the price down to fit their budgets,” Keefe added. “Reaching those younger consumers and breaking through the messaging noise and getting a product into their hands that they’re going to be buying over and over again is an area that is going to benefit from a concerted effort and learning on the part of producers to build a business that will last well into the next couple of decades.”

Keefe said processors and producers have leaned into value-added meat products like the pre-marinated cuts, ground meats with inclusions like cheese and veggies, maybe diced meats for stews. She said consumers love them as long as they taste good.

“They can put together a variety of meals for themselves, and their family and they don’t have to serve the same dish three times a week because they know how to do it blindfolded and it’s fast and it’s easy. Sometimes they can use those pre-marinated cuts and some of the new offerings that are prepared for them to maybe make a fancier meal for friends or even dinner guests.

Keefe said it’s a way to entertain and have that enjoyment by not spending the previous 36 hours in the kitchen to put together a good dinner.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com