Who鈥檚 got a beef with COVID-19? Turns out, most Canadians.
Even the spiralling sticker shocks of rising meat prices and trending plant-based diets during the coronavirus pandemic did not hinder people from their love of sirloin, ribeye or porterhouse steaks.
As barbecue season begins across the country, a study conducted by leading food economists at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab has found that up to 92 per cent Canadians are still beef lovers 鈥� with 65 per cent eating different cuts of the meat several times in a regular week.
But results among different provinces, genders and age groups vary; and one in four Canadians have thought about cutting beef altogether from their diets within the last 12 months.
鈥淚t鈥檚 surprising and it鈥檚 not surprising at the same time,鈥� said Sylvain Charlebois, a food management professor at Dalhousie University, who led the study with a team of experts and through surveys conducted by polling firm Angus Reid.
Charlebois shared his report鈥檚 findings exclusively with the Free Press, ahead of a wide release today. 鈥淲e thought the rise and influence of the vegetarian and vegan movements would鈥檝e been a factor into different choices with beef because we鈥檝e seen how much of a push for that has happened during the pandemic,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut we can certainly see that whether popular cooking sites like Epicurious go vegan or not, beef remains an important staple in Canadians鈥� diets for a variety of reasons 鈥� and even despite those ever-climbing prices.鈥�
When asked why they enjoy eating beef, seven out of 10 respondents cited taste as their biggest reason 鈥� highest across all categories. At the same time, 55 per cent Canadians said they eat it regularly because they see the product as a great source of protein, and 42 per cent call it a central part of their personal culinary traditions.
Manitoba has among the highest number of regular beef eaters in the country at 71 per cent of the sample population, just behind Alberta at 73 per cent. It鈥檚 a far cry from British Columbia, which has the country鈥檚 highest proportion of vegans and vegetarians and only 58 per cent people eat beef there regularly.
鈥淔or us, our regional love for beef has definitely been the best news during the pandemic,鈥� said Munther Zeid, owner and operator of Food Fare stores, which have several in-store abattoirs in Winnipeg.
鈥淓ven though prices have certainly skyrocketed because of supply chain disruptions at meat processing units and centres, we鈥檝e seen premium cuts moving unbelievably and even really expensive things like Wagyu beef are just flying right out.鈥�
Across Manitoba, data from Statistics Canada for beef prices shows that, stewing cuts jumped to $17.20 per kilogram from $13.50; sirloin cuts climbed to $24.04 from $17.84; and striploin cuts came to a staggering $31.57 from $18.15.
But those are figures from the summer of 2020, and experts like Charlebois believe they will continue bumping up across the board for many years 鈥� including the summer of 2021.
Zeid, however, is not fazed by that. 鈥淥bviously, people will have complaints about prices rising,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e seeing that everyone is still buying beef. And I truly believe that that鈥檚 because of the pandemic is making people realize they have money to spend on quality products 鈥� especially from independent stores that we in Manitoba are very lucky to have.鈥�
Still, many Canadians have considered cutting beef out of their diets. In Manitoba alone, almost half of all respondents said they鈥檝e given it significant thought because of rising prices.
Among Canadians under the age of 35, that number is the highest 鈥� with 31 per cent thinking of cutting down on their beef.
On top of that, 47 per cent of Canadians believe the number of people cutting beef from their diets will increase in years to come. And 44 per cent believe it is 鈥渄esirable鈥� to see more people reducing their consumption of beef over time.
鈥淎t the end of the day,鈥� said Charlebois, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a personal choice. And I suspect with an abundance of choices in protein options that Canadians now have thanks to the pandemic pushes, these trends of beef being cut from diets will only get further escalated with more options over the coming years.鈥�
