German meat industry refutes consumption statistics
According to Destatis, price-adjusted demand for meat products has fallen by 17.8% since 1991, but VDF pointed out that the figure only applies to consumption at home, when out-of-home meat consumption is soaring.
“This has grown dramatically in the past 20 years, and now accounts for about one-third of total per capita meat consumption,” the association added. Moreover, VDF said the price development data in the report painted “a false picture”, as the entrance of discounters in the fresh meat market in the past 20 years has minimised the price increase, compared to other products.
“In addition, there has been a consumption shift to low-priced meats (poultry),” the organisation added. “The actual evolution of demand for meat can therefore not be explained by the price-adjusted final expenditure of households. According to the statistics available to us, meat consumption per capita has declined by only 1.3%,” VDF concluded.
