Production Claims Steer Consumer Eating Experiences

Consumers provided with labeling information on ground beef patties believed the beef labeled as "locally sourced" was much better in terms of tenderness, juiciness, flavor, texture and overall liking. And, when consumers were told the ground beef was grass-fed and locally produced, it was rated even higher.

In reality, all of the ground beef (80% lean and 20% fat) came from the same production lot/day, and it was bought in chubs prior to being made into patties. Each chub went randomly to a consumer panel as patties. Those patties were randomly assigned different label terms including: all natural (AN), animal raised without antibiotics (WA), animal raised without added hormones (WH), fresh never frozen (FNF), grass-fed, locally sourced and organic.

Consumers were asked to evaluate the patties they tasted for tenderness, juiciness, flavor and texture on a zero to 100 scale. They also rated the patties as acceptable or unacceptable for each trait. The consumers were given labeling information that had been created for each patty prior to tasting the sample. Some interesting findings showed the following:

-- When evaluating flavor, samples labeled as grass-fed beef had a larger increase in the ratings than samples labeled as WA, WH and even Premium quality.

-- Adding production claims that consumers recognized improved palatability as perceived by the consumer.

-- Consumers rated grass-fed, organic and AN as similar for "flavor liking" and purchasing intent.

-- When products were labeled as AN, WA, WH, FNF, locally sourced, Premium quality and organic, there was a large increase in the overall liking ratings.

The research team, headed by K.M. Harr, E.S. Beyer and K.J. Farmer of Kansas State University, wrote that ultimately, adding production claims consumers recognized made for a better eating experience. They added that events of 2020 and 2021 set the stage for consumers to be more "adapted to wanting foods that are locally sourced, which are likely a direct cause of the results we found."

**

-- Follow Vicki on X (formerly Twitter) @myersPF

[PF_1023]

(c) Copyright 2023 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.