Consumers are concerned with where meat comes from, and older generations prioritize domestic meat. Consumers say knowing the animal was raised humanely and domestically, and fed a nutritious diet is critical to them. These attributes rank higher than sustainability and animal feed. Seven in 10 say animal diet is extremely or very important to their decision-making process, up from 51% in 2019. Younger generations are more specific about their diet and value antibiotic-free meat. Gen Z and Millennials rank antibiotic-free a top purchase driver for meat products (44% and 45% respectively). Gen Z are as likely to purchase meat if the label reads not fed synthetic ingredients (44%). Corn, wheat, and soybeans are the top ingredients consumers want to see in animal feed. Consumers who prefer soy-fed meat believe that it is healthier and of higher quality. There was a five percentage point increase for soybeans as the best animal feed ingredient, since 2021.
Soy remains a top ingredient for animal feed.