Ground Beef Performance: Sales Trends by Leanness, Form, and Label Claim

Nearly every consumer was impacted by the volatility of goods and services during 2023. As consumers have grappled with these changing market dynamics, shifting preferences have emphasized versatility, affordability, and convenience. Ground beef products sported one of the lowest average prices per pound in 2023 for beef products, with an average price being 22.5% lower than all beef other products.¹ Ground beef sales also comprised 50.6% of all retail beef sales in terms of volume (pounds sold) and 39.2% in terms of value (dollars sold) in 2023.¹  

Not only is ground beef a major component of the beef retail market, but ground beef also accounted for 19% of all retail fresh meat sales in terms of volume and 21% of all retail fresh meat sales in terms of value during the same time frame.¹ As shown in Figure 1, ground beef sales have been increasing in terms of dollars since 2021 while decreasing in terms of pounds over the same time frame. More specifically, retail ground beef sales have increased by 2.3% in terms of dollars and have decreased by 2.0% in terms of pounds since 2022.¹ Decreasing pound sales coupled with increasing dollar sales points to an increasing price per pound, which have indeed risen an average of 8.4% from 2019 to 2023 and increased by 4.4% from 2022 to 2023 alone.¹ 

Fresh ground beef products are sold in varying forms ranging from chubs, modified atmospheric packaging, polyvinyl chloride overwrapped trays, and vacuum packaged bricks. Figure 2 shows these popular ground beef forms as a percentage of the ground beef available at the retail case in 2021. Polyvinyl chloride overwrapped trays were the most popular packaging method, occupying over 53% of the ground beef available in the retail case.⁴ Vacuum-packaged bricks occupied a little over 28% of the retail meat case, while chubs and modified atmospheric packaging rounded out the popular packaging methods with 13% and 5% of the market share, respectively.⁴ While this survey was conducted in 2021, these market shares are not expected to shift much year-over-year, as the survey has been conducted every few years with little variation. 

Figure 3 breaks down retail ground beef sales in terms of lean-to-fat ratio, with the most popular ground beef products containing between 11-20% fat (80-89% lean).⁵ Ground beef products that contained 11-20% fat occupied 45.1% of ground beef sales by value, with a total of $5.9 billion sold in 2023.³ In terms of pounds sold, fresh ground beef containing 11-20% fat accounted for 1.2 billion pounds sold, 46.5% of all ground beef sales by volume in 2023.⁵ Fresh ground beef products that contained 10% or less fat (90% or greater leanness), have sold approximately 562 million pounds (21.0% of the ground beef market by volume) worth $3.4 billion (26.1% of the ground beef market by value) in 2023.⁵ Another popular option at retail is ground beef products that contain between 20-29% fat (70-79% lean), which sold approximately 520.9 million pounds (19.5% of the ground beef market by volume) and $1.9 billion worth in terms of dollars (15.0% of the ground beef market by value) in 2023.⁵ Ground beef products that have leanness claims that do not fit into these categories sold 28 thousand pounds (0.001% of the ground beef market by volume) and worth $160 thousand dollars (0.001% of the ground beef market by value) in 2023.⁵ Finally, those ground beef products that either did not specify leanness or did not have that data collected sold 346 million pounds (12.9% of the ground beef market by volume) worth $1.8 billion dollars (13.9% of the ground beef market by value) in 2023.⁵ These market shares have remained stable over the past few years, with 80-89% lean ground beef showing signs of slightly increasing market share from 2019 – 2023.⁵ 

Consumers can also select their preferred ground beef product according to the production claim label, such as grass-fed, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, and organic. The largest of these claims is antibiotic-free ground beef, which was present on approximately 5.9% ($762 million) of all ground beef labels in terms of dollars sold and 3.8% (101 million) in terms of pounds sold in 2023.⁶ Beef products labeled with hormone-free claims occupied 5.5% ($715 million) of the total ground beef sales in terms of dollars and 3.6% (95 million) in terms of pounds sold.⁷  

Beef products labeled with grass-fed claims occupied 4.6% ($603 million) of the total ground beef sales in terms of dollars and 3.0% (81.5 million) in terms of pounds in 2023.8 Organic ground beef label claims occupied the smallest market share of the popular production claims, occupying 3.2% ($422 million) in terms of dollars and 2.2% (58 million) in terms of pounds.⁹ While these claims still occupy a small fraction of the market, demand for production transparency appears to be growing, as ground beef sales with these production labels have grown by an average of 5.4% from 2020 to 2023.^6,7,8,9  

Ground beef is a versatile, cost-effective, and in-demand beef product, in part due to the custom feel that ground beef offers. Whether shoppers are looking for a certain leanness percentage or product form, ground beef is well apt to cater to a multitude of lifestyles and preferences. This versatility helps explain why ground beef is consistently one of the best-selling beef products year-over-year, especially when consumer budgets continue to be stretched. As consumer preferences continue to shift, ground beef will be sure to continue adapting to meet these needs.

Sources: