Driven by rising living standards and increasing health-consciousness, consumers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are increasingly opting for meat products with ‘health & wellness’ (H&W) claims. As a result, the H&W market in the Asia-Pacific meat sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% during 2018–2023, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to the company’s report, ‘Opportunities in the Asia-Pacific Meat Sector: Analysis of Opportunities Offered by High-Growth Economies’, in the APAC meat market, the second largest in the world with overall value sales of US$288.1bn in 2018, the sales of meat products with H&W attributes is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% from US$1,377m in 2018 to US$1,625.2m by 2023 on the backdrop of rising awareness of diet-related health issues such as obesity, high-cholesterol and gluten intolerance.

Among the different countries in the APAC region, Australia is expected to contribute the most to the growth of the APAC H&W market. There is growing demand for meat products with ‘reduced fat’ claims in Australia, driven by the country’s rising obesity levels.

Mohammed Masiuddin Shajie, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData says: “Growing middle class with improving disposable income and increasing availability of convenient meat options will satiate the demand from time-pressed urban consumers to drive the APAC meat market during the next five years.”

The report further reveals that ‘food minus’ attribute plays an important role in driving sales of meat products in the APAC region with a share of 88.1% while ‘weight & shape’ management, at 97.1%, is the most sought-after consumer benefit. In Hong Kong, ‘naturally healthy’ and ‘general wellbeing’ are the most sought-after attribute and benefit, respectively.

In terms of categories, ‘fresh meat (counter)’ led the overall meat sector in 2018, followed by the ‘chilled raw packaged meat – whole cuts’ category. On the other hand the frozen meat category is expected to register the fastest value growth during the forecast period, while ambient meat is forecast to record the fastest growth in volume terms.
WH Group leads the APAC meat sector, followed by Itoham Foods Inc. and NH Foods Ltd. while Shuanghui, Itoham and Grassland Xingfa are the popular brands in the region.

Shajie concludes: “With growing Internet penetration in the region, meat producers are collaborating with e-commerce websites to sell meat products online; this trend is expected to gain traction over the years to come.”