New research from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has shown metropolitan Australians who are knowledgeable about the red meat industry are likely to be eating more red meat.
The latest Community Sentiment Research surveyed 1501 Australians aged 18 - 64 who reside in the five main capital cities in Australia. It is conducted each year to inform MLA's investments in community communication and marketing to drive better understanding of red meat production and nutritional benefits for everyday Australians.
According to Group Manager – Community Communications and Events at MLA, Samantha Jamieson, the research indicates a positive perception of the Australian beef and lamb industries by metro community members.
"Community perceptions of the industry remain steady with 63% having a positive perception of the beef industry and 60% having a similar perception of the lamb industry," Ms Jamieson said.
"A further 27% – 29% have no concerns, with the remaining 16% - 18% either not knowing or having some level of concern, the lowest level over the past three years, and similar to levels over the past decade.
"Notably, most Australians see the red meat industry as vital to the Australian economy and job creation, especially in regional areas. 71% of those surveyed also have confidence in Australian beef and lamb producers to provide safe, nutritious and sustainable food.
"Nearly two-thirds of Australians also say that they trust the red meat industry to do what is right, and farmers are trusted nearly as much as engineers, teachers and scientists.
"The research demonstrates Australians' positive perceptions and understanding about the important role red meat producers play in feeding the nation."
The high level of trust in the red meat industry centers around education and knowledge of the Australian beef and lamb industries.
While a third of Australians consider themselves knowledgeable about the industry, over half want to learn more. In addition, 73% think children should be learning about the industry in school.
"Importantly, the correlation between higher levels of industry knowledge and better perceptions about the industry have been seen again in this year's survey," Ms Jamieson said.
"For Australians who have knowledge about the industry, 72% say that they believe Australian cattle are raised humanely, which compares to 55% of metro Australians without that knowledge.
"A similar trend applies for the environment. As understanding of the industry increases, so does the sentiment that people believe producers care for the environment.
"This demonstrates that the more you know about the industry, the more you like about it, which is encouraging to see. It highlights the importance of community engagement and educational investments through initiatives like Australian Good Meat, School educational resources, the Red Meat Ambassador program, and working with social media influencers," Ms Jamieson said.
"One of the big recent influencer trends is around health, where there is a growing understanding of the importance of protein.
"MLA continues to play a big role in arming social influencers with right information and language to have an engaging discussion with the community."
The community is interested in learning more about animal welfare (45%), nutrition benefits (40%), carbon neutrality (39%) and environment initiatives (35%).
Sustainability also ranked as a key consideration for metro Australians, with 91% citing it as important to them, and 56% say that they would think more positively about the red meat industry knowing that the industry has an ambition to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero
