Millennials are the central shoppers for many U.S. families and their preferences are driving major shifts in the meat and poultry retail departments. Anne-Marie Roerink, principal, 210 Analytics LLC, shared during “The Power of Meat 2025: An In-Depth Look at Meat Through the Shopper’s Eyes” at the 2025 Annual Meat Conference.
Now in it's 20th year, the Power of Meat report provides valuable insights into how consumers behave in retail.
Here are some of the ways millennial preferences are shaping behavior in retail:
Money well spent vs. spending money
Consumers are under intense financial pressure right now, and many feel like things are unaffordable. According to the report, 94% of consumers are concerned about today’s cost of living
“Prices are a concern to many,” said Roerink.
These concerns are leading to a home centric status of living, good for retail and record year for the meat department. Beef was the undisputed king of the department, but chicken had a 3.9% increase in dollars in 2024. However, retail shouldn't assume that this is a trend to stay. The survey reported that 72% of respondents would go back to restaurants more if money was no concern.
In the meat department, millennials over index for chicken and processed chicken, while boomers under indexed for these categories, showing that a changing of the guard is occurring. Millennials value global flavors and experiential menus, but are often stressed for time and need recipes that are easy to cook. This leads to a dichotomy where they must decide where to splurge on food or save money.
In retail, many deli departments are stepping up to operate as restaurant alternatives to meet millennial desires for experiential dining. These departments are also highlighting meal deals and easy solutions for entertaining.
Meat is at the center of change
Another dichotomy that millennials are struggling with is value vs. premium.
Chicken is perceived as one of the cheapest proteins, which is a benefit when consumers are looking for a less costly alternative to beef or pork.
When it comes to premium, millennials will look for meat with label claims like grass-fed, organic, antibiotic-free, which they perceive as having a higher value, Roerink explained.
Younger consumers eat meat differently
Millennials, alongside Gen X and Gen Z, love new flavors and also tend to eat meat differently than previous generations.
While boomers tend to make meat or poultry the center point of their meal, i.e., steak, potatoes and a salad, younger consumers tend to put meat in or on something. For example, on noodles, on rice, on pizza or in tacos.
Younger consumers also love their air fryers and any other cooking appliance that makes meal prepping easy. Part of this, Roerink said, is because they have less knowledge on how to prepare meat and poultry from scratch. Of all of the proteins, younger consumers seem to be most comfortable preparing chicken, she noted.
The report found that 55% of respondents indicated they knew how to prepare a chicken or turkey breast, 49% said they knew how to marinate and season meat and poultry and only 40% felt comfortable preparing steak from scratch.
This desire to experiment with new flavors, but fear of cooking from a recipe is a major opportunity for brands and retail to educate and help make assembling a meal easy on the consumer, she said.
Protein powerhouse
Retail stores are becoming a solution center for addressing health concerns and not just in the meat department, Roerink explained. You can see claims for low carb, brain health and more in other parts of the store.
Thankfully, the Power of Meat report revealed that consumers highly value the protein and iron levels in meat and poultry, although there are concerns about fat content. The report stated that 74% of respondents believe meat/poultry is a nutrient powerhouse and 73% think meat/poultry are a healthy choice for me.
Retail brands should continue to reinforce meat/poultry as a healthy choice because it's important for our voices to be heard, said Roerink. Proteins are hot right now, but there may be a gap between consumer perception and truth. Brands should be communicating protein content of meat and poultry to consumers.
