Although protein remains a key nutrition focus for U.S. consumers, a new report spotlights some warning signs on how the meat industry develops and markets its products.
Created by NielsenIQ and presented last week at the Protein Solutions Summit in New Orleans, the report shared a number of encouraging signs for meat processors, including: 60% of consumers make an intentional effort to consume more protein every day; 71% agree that protein is very/extremely important in their diet; and 48% saw “protein” on packaging and purchased the product.
Dollar sales of products with stated protein claims are up 15.6% from two years ago, more than double the 6.9% of food and beverage overall.
However, amidst those positive trends, NielsenIQ uncovered a fatigue among Americans when it comes to protein products and their marketing. Notable stats included:
34% of Americans think the industry over-hypes protein in its products.
37% think products have too much protein.
16% are “overwhelmed” at the number of protein-laden items available, while 29% are “skeptical” and 27% “indifferent.”
Currently, there are more than 34,000 products with stated protein claims, a 55.4% increase from 2017.
Opportunities for education, building trust
Despite those sentiments, NielsenIQ pinpointed a number of opportunities for the meat industry.
For starters, there is space to better educate consumers about their protein needs. A full 27% “don’t know” how many grams of protein they need each day, and 68% do not track their protein consumption.
Moreover, the industry has room to build trust. In terms of protein claims, 32% of consumers consider such claims “neither” trustworthy or untrustworthy, and 45% chose “somewhat trustworthy.” Added protein, too, arouses suspicion — 33% trust naturally occurring protein more, and 27% are “not sure” of which they more trust.
Such a trend, NielsenIQ continued, means the industry should “think beyond protein” and consider other desired characteristics in food. For instance, in high-protein products, 37% of Americans want low sugar, while 29% want high fiber and 27% want low sodium.
The report stressed that companies need to seriously consider the impact of health/nutrition apps. Not only do 22% of shoppers use third-party apps to scan products, but 63% trust their app as much as a product’s label, and 35% are “very likely” to not buy a product that scores poorly in an app’s system.