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UK: Shopping baskets with red meat are more likely to contain fruits and vegetables

Making sure consumer shopping baskets are full of healthy, balanced meals can be challenging, according to AHDB.

Posted on Jan 10 ,00:15

Many retailers have commitments and strategies to increase sales of fruits and vegetables. However, it’s important that red meat isn’t excluded from healthy diet promotion.

Fruits and vegetables are some of the products consumers purchase the most, with 99% of households buying both fresh fruit and vegetables in the last year (AHDB/Kantar 52 w/e 7 July 2024). However, shoppers don’t buy them on every shopping trip, with fresh fruit appearing in 36% of all baskets, and fresh vegetables in 41% of all baskets.

Research from AHDB in collaboration with Kantar has shown that baskets containing primary red meat cuts are nearly twice as likely to contain fresh vegetables and fruits than the average shopping basket. For example, of baskets containing primary red meat, 76% also contain fresh vegetables while only 41% of total shopping baskets contain fresh vegetables.

Only 10% of baskets contain primary red meat, a relatively small proportion of total baskets. Primary meat is a driver of basket spend in retail. The average shopping basket is worth just £20. When red meat is included the average basket value increases by 37% as shoppers are likely to be buying for more special or occasion meals (AHDB/Kantar, 52 w/e 7 July 2024).

These results vary by the different proteins within red meat. Beef and pork are more likely to be purchased alongside vegetables than lamb. Lamb is more than three times as likely to be purchased from a butcher than beef with 7% of lamb sales purchased through these retailers. Therefore, some of these lamb baskets are less likely to contain vegetables. 

The data suggests only a correlation between primary red meat and fruit and vegetable purchases and not causation. It is not from a lack of want that many consumers are not eating a healthy balanced diet. A lack of time, knowledge and money all play into only 15% of meals at home being cooked fully from scratch (Kantar 52 w/e 12 May 2024).

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