According to a report by the market research firm Technavio, the global market for grass-fed beef is predicted to grow dramatically over the next five years. Projections from January 2020 estimate $19.5 billion worth of market expansion by 2024. This market development is expected to come from the broadening of three consumer groups: consumers who are well informed, health conscious, and community oriented.
The Well Informed Consumer
A wealth of information is available online to any consumer who goes looking for it. As a result, consumers are making their purchasing decisions not solely based on price, but on other factors, such as environmental sustainability, the treatment and welfare of the animals, and creating and maintaining better, healthier food systems. Grass-fed beef (and especially grass-finished beef) spend more of their lives grazing in pastures, as opposed to the feedlots where grain-fed beef is raised.
The Health Conscious Consumer
As medical practitioners and politicians alike continue to advocate for healthier eating habits, consumers will seek out products that offer health benefits to those that eat them. Grass-fed beef, which contains more omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E than conventional beef, while also being lower in fat content and calories, is the sensible choice for the health conscious consumer.
The Community Oriented Consumer
A growing number of consumers would rather spend more to support small, local owners and operators rather than getting a cheaper price from a national, faceless corporation. This is why new marketing buzzwords, like “locally sourced” and “farm to table” are making their entrance. North America accounts for the largest share of the grass-fed beef market, so the availability of grass-fed beef is likely to increase.
And these three groups are not mutually exclusive. In fact, all three traits can easily exist in a single customer. Luckily, here in Central Florida, there is a simple answer for all three. Humanely sourced, all natural grass-fed beef from local ranchers and processors, such as Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch beef, processed at Chop-n-Block and available for local consumers to purchase.