What's happening in Barbecue?
Get the latest insights into the current barbecue market and explore barbecue taste trends manifesting across the world, by region.
Strong Category Growth Continues
Within meat & poultry products, Barbecue flavours are growing at a CAGR of 14.46%, but at a higher 22.8% in meat only between 2022 and 2023 globally. In Europe they are growing at an impressive 31% in meat & poultry..
In the UK, Smoky and Spicy are the top preferred meat flavours, especially for Bacon (55%) and Burgers (32%).
For Spanish consumers, Smoky flavours are also highly preferred, particularly for Bacon (53%), Sausages (34%), and Beef Cuts (33%).
In 2024, taste emerges even stronger and remains the top factor driving meat consumption above value and health. The key trifecta of Taste, Health and Value is what matters most to people when they are buying meat. With BBQ, Smoked, and Applewood Smoked among the rising stars.
Source: Kerry Proprietary Insight, European Meat Consumer 2027, n=4,033 (Based on MaxDiff Analysis)
In a recent project, we tested meat market future disruptors with consumers to understand the direction of the Meat Market to 2027 and beyond. We used a framework to conduct a comprehensive review of the cultural, food and meat specific shifts that will help us define the world we’ll live in 3 years from now.
This led to the creation of nine Future Stories that we tested. One of these stories was Exotic Eclectic.
A future where people will be drawn to modern remixes of exotic flavour combinations, styles of cooking and cuts of meat from around the world that offer exciting experiences, such as from Lebanon, Turkey, Ethiopia and Venezuela. People will seek out high impact tastes - and 69% of consumers said it was likely to happen.
The exotic eclectic consumer Need: Enhanced Sensations & an array of adventurous flavours from around the globe
** Source: Kerry Meat Consumer 2027 (Europe) Base: All n=4,003
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Ciaran Ryan, Meats Applications Chef and Beverage Technologist, Kevin Fennel have their eye on the trends, ensuring they are delivering on the authenticity that is true to the culture and region of global barbecue flavours. |
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Dylan Knudsen, Research Scientist for meat seasonings and Destanie Schneider, RD& in snack seasonings describe their unique use of smoke and grill flavours and capturing the nuances of fire cooked foods. |
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Alessandra Bulgarelli, Business Development Manager talks about the necessity to deliver on the consumer expectation of authentic barbecue, especially in a region where cooking with fire is intertwined with everyday life. |
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Ki Won Um, VP of Taste RD& and Executive Chef Thomas Chai discuss the challenges presented with the dynamic and diverse differences in a wide variety of barbecue flavour applications. |
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Marcus Verkerk, Technical Support Manager and third generation butcher who loves smoking food discusses the three distinct advantages of working with Kerry for the best barbecue flavour solutions |
