Industry adapts in new norm for meat shopping

Now the number has more than quadrupled because of the change in consumer's shopping habits.

But it's not the only change in meat shopping trends over the years, especially post COVID-19 with independent butchers thinking outside the box when it comes to marketing farmers' produce.

Mr Hefferenan, who runs Moorlands Biodynamic Lamb at Dalton, credits the changes to well-informed consumers who do their background first and use it as a base for buying decisions.

"They are always asking questions; they want to know about animal welfare, how the kill was done, our carbon footprint, what fertiliser we use, how it will perform on a plate," Mr Heffernan said.

Mr Heffernan switched to selling his lamb at farmers markets because he was appalled at the treatment by supermarkets.

"I had two options, bend over and quietly take it, or option two, find another way to sell my product," Mr Heffernan said.

Australian Farmers Markets Association chairperson Jane Adams said when the markets started in 1999, people told her they were just a fad.

"I didn't know it then, but 25 years later you can say they are not a fad and meat has always been an important component in food offering to food consumers," Ms Adams said.

"While most people think lamb, beef, chicken and porkers, some farmers are selling kangaroo, goat, venison and alpaca now due to consumer demand."

Ms Adams said the main changes post pandemic were people who only discovered farmers markets in that period continued their shopping there.

"The issues they would find when they were out shopping for food in a normal food shopping environment (supermarkets) that there were food shortages in meat and poultry," she said.

But she said the significant difference at farmers markets was there were no disruptions to the food supply chain or transport.

"Farmers markets are now a viable and permanent link in Australian food chain," she said.

Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive officer, Patrick Hutchinson, said industry was seeing a number of different scenarios in the way consumers were changing the way they purchase their meat products.

In the direct to consumer area, he said butchers had to be innovative and were providing delivery direct to consumers.

He said many had started during COVID-19 and many were also hiring chefs to provide meals.

"They are creating Masterchef quality meals to set themselves apart in those areas," Mr Hutchinson said.

He said there was also a focus on marketing beef for mid-week meals like Hello Fresh.

"People are making changes in in the way they purchase product and we need to be flexible in proving that," he said.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) domestic market manager, Graeme Yardy, said it was always looking to improve the way it markets beef, lamb and goat, including working with tourism companies to put meat on the menu on major cruise lines.

"MLA has invested in other innovative ways to advertise red meat. Some recent examples of this include partnerships that have seen more red meat on the menu on the menu at major stadiums like Suncorp Stadium and the MCG," Mr Yardy said.