Increased consumption of animal proteins to tackle fatigue is the latest dietary trend to boost demand for meat and dairy products.

John Murray of Bord Bia told a recent dairy and succession event in Claremorris that a marked shift in consumer perceptions of animal proteins was good news for farmers.

“Proteins are on the rise and animal-based proteins are specifically on the rise,” Murray told the largely dairy-farmer audience.

“There is a huge interest among younger people in energy. Fatigue is going to be the next big thing people are going to be talking about and how they manage their energy levels,” he said.

Seventeen, 18- and 19-year-olds “are way ahead of the rest of us on this,” he explained.

Natural proteins

“And they are thinking about natural proteins to manage fatigue. So, I would be positive that the next number of years, from a dairy and meat protein point of view, are going to revert back to traditional sources,” Murray said.

This shift back to animal proteins has resulted in a “plateauing” of demand levels for non-animal or alternative proteins, the senior Bord Bia executive told the audience.

“We’re seeing some proper serious plateauing in it [alternative protein business]. We’re seeing some large businesses under a lot of pressure and lots of consolidation,” Murray said.

“And I think the big piece behind that is the consumer has started to wake up a little bit to what is in these products,” he maintained.

“There is a huge amount of interest at the moment in terms of what it takes to put together an alternative dairy product,” Murray said.

Multitudes of ingredients are combined to make some of the alternative dairy products, Murray claimed.

In contrast, consumers are “acutely aware” that natural dairy products come from a single ingredient, he said.