Across nearly six years of monthly data, the Meat Demand Monitor reveals a U.S. consumer base that remains strongly committed to meat, increasingly attentive to nutrition and health and responsive to financial realities.
The newly released February 2020 to December 2025 summary report from Kansas State University documents how consumer demand, purchasing drivers and financial sentiment evolved through pandemic disruptions, inflation spikes and shifting health trends.
Meat consumption
One of the most consistent findings in the Meat Demand Monitor is the durability of meat consumption. Self-declared meat consumer rates have increased over time, while vegan and vegetarian rates peaked early in the survey period and subsequently declined.
When the monitor began, 68% of respondents reported they regularly consume meat, and 14% said they were vegetarians and vegans. By 2025, 75% reported regularly consuming meat, and 7% were vegan/vegetarians. The report further notes that many respondents who self-identify as vegan or vegetarian also report consuming meat in prior-day meals, suggesting actual non-meat diet prevalence is lower than labels alone imply. The number of respondents reporting as flexitarians remained constant at 10-12% during the reporting period.
Where consumers source protein has remained consistent. For at-home meals, grocery stores account for more than 60% of protein sourcing across breakfast, lunch and dinner in each year studied. Mass merchandisers and club stores follow behind at 21% and 7%, respectively, in 2025.
Away-from-home, the report noted quick service (fast-food restaurants) restaurants led breakfast and lunch, gaining share from 2020 levels, while casual dining (Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, etc.) leads dinner and remains closely followed by quick service (Panera, Chipotle, Panda Express, etc.) at roughly one-third of away-from-home meals.
The divergence between retail and foodservice becomes more pronounced when examining willingness-to-pay (WTP), a direct demand measure captured in the report. Retail WTP rose sharply from 2020 to 2025.
For example, consumers’ indifference price for ground beef increased from $7.26 per pound in 2020 to $9.18/lb. in 2025. During that same period, the Consumer Price Index All Items Index—the broad inflation index—increased 24%, yet several retail protein WTP measures rose by more than that rate. In contrast, none of the eight foodservice dinner WTP measures rose by 20%.
Purchasing priorities, sentiment
Purchasing priorities have been stable overall, but notable shifts occurred within the ranking of factors. Taste and freshness consistently rank as the top considerations when consumers buy protein, the report noted. However, nutrition and health have increased in relative importance since 2020, aligning with what the report describes as a broader “pro-protein” environment.
Meanwhile, environmental impact, origin/traceability, animal welfare and hormone/antibiotic-free claims have declined in relative importance.
Financial sentiment trends help explain widening differences across households. The Meat Demand Monitor reports that financial optimism peaked in 2021, then deteriorated from 2022 through 2025 amid inflation and broader pessimism. Households reporting improved finances reported eating beef and pork more frequently, consistent with meat being a “normal good.”
At the same time, the report said that price rose in relative importance among financially strained households, with the gap across financial cohorts most pronounced in 2025. According to the report, households reporting improved finances (“better”) increased weekly food spending from $101 in 2020 to $114 in 2025, while those reporting worse finances rose more modestly from $96 to $99 over the same period.
Meanwhile, the share of weekly food spending allocated to at-home meals remained consistently higher for financially strained households—rising from 66% in 2020 to 67% in 2025—compared to 58% in both 2020 and 2025 for households reporting improved finances.
Emerging health trends are also shaping demand. The report highlights growing use of GLP-1 medications, particularly in southeastern states, and notes that research using Meat Demand Monitor data finds that GLP-1 users are less price-sensitive. The report notes that dynamic remains a key area for monitoring. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
