Data Belgian consumption of fresh meat still on the retreat

With a volume share of 35.1% of total meat consumption, meat preparations made from several types of meat are the most popular category. Other categories include pork with 32.2%, beef with 25.3%, veal with 3.3% and sheep and lamb with 2.9%.

97% of Belgian households stated that they buy meat (pork, beef, veal, lamb, sheep or horse meat) at least once a year. The main reasons given for eating meat are taste, eating habits and nutritional value. Meat continues to be a high priority for Belgian consumers, even though the majority of Belgians prefer a variety of fish and vegetarian dishes. 72% of Belgians say they consume meat once to five times a week, 21% eat meat almost daily and 7% rarely or never consume meat.

For 61% of Belgians, the origin of the meat plays a role, which is an increase of  7% compared to 2017. If you look at this category, 70% have a strong preference for Belgian meat. The shopping frequency of the average family continues to decrease to 39 purchases in 2018. The trend that more is added to the shopping cart per purchase also continues.

38.6% of the fresh meat quantities are bought in the traditional food retail trade, which lost market share to the hard discounters (Aldi and Lidl). While the neighborhood supermarkets successfully defended their previous year's position, the butcher shops are enjoying increasing popularity.