Consumers value animal protein as part of a healthy and sustainable diet, Cargill survey reveals

23 Apr 2019 --- Despite the growing interest in plant-based diets, many consumers believe that meat, fish and eggs can be an essential part of a healthy and environmentally responsible diet, according to new global research from Cargill. And they plan to keep eating them as well – along with plant-based dietary protein. More than two-thirds of respondents surveyed say they intend to maintain or increase their consumption of animal protein in the next year while four-fifths of participants expressed interest in plant-based or alternative sources of protein.

“We’re pleased consumers see animal protein as an important part of a healthy diet,” says Chuck Warta, President of Cargill’s Premix and Nutrition Business. “Dietary guidance consistently emphasizes the benefits of adequate protein intake from a variety of sources. We aim to help our livestock, poultry and aquaculture customers meet the growing global demand for protein in the most healthy, productive and sustainable way possible.”

In its latest Feed4Thought survey, Cargill found 93 percent of respondents across the US, Brazil, the Netherlands and Vietnam say they care about our ability to feed the world sustainably, with 84 percent saying that it impacts what they buy. Animal protein makes the cut, according to most consumers, with 80 percent of survey participants saying it can be part of an environmentally responsible regimen and 93 percent saying it can play an important role in a healthy diet. 

“Access to poultry meat and eggs can rapidly improve people's diets and have a major impact on their lives,” notes Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO of Heifer International, a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger.

Cargill recently partnered with Heifer to launch Hatching Hope, an initiative aimed at improving the nutrition and livelihoods of 100 million people by 2030, by training and opening markets for subsistence poultry farmers and providing nutrition education for their communities.

“We're investing in smart, resourceful women farmers, working with them to improve their products, access new markets and build sustainable businesses that generate living incomes,” says Ferrari.

When asked who bears most responsibility for ensuring food production is sustainable, almost a third of participants selected food and feed manufacturers as their top choice. Governments came in second (25 percent) and then consumers via the foods we eat (20 percent). 

Cargill is focusing on this responsibility, with new policies on South American sustainable soy, human rights and deforestation, and partnerships, like The Nature Conservancy-Nestle Purina-Cargill initiative to help US farmers conserve irrigation water.

Cargill Animal Nutrition prioritizes delivering sustainability to customers and consumers, along with well-being and performance, as the outcomes of its new five-year strategy, says the company. This shows up in collaborations like the ship-sharing partnership with Skretting, which aims to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than one-fifth per transported ton of salmon feed by reducing unused capacity in Norway. 

In R&D and sourcing, Cargill is exploring novel ingredients to solve specific challenges, such as insect meal, algae and Calysta's FeedKind protein as more sustainable alternatives to fish meal and fish oil in aquafeed. It also guides the development of products, such as the company's NUGENA line, which can reduce heat stress and feather-pecking in cage-free chickens; and use of Delacon's phytogenic additives, which can lower methane from cows by up to 10 percent.

“Cargill's research and innovation around feed additives plays an important role for us in terms of ways we can reduce our GHG emissions,” says Townsend Bailey, Director of US Supply Chain Sustainability at McDonald's, “as well as ways we can reduce antibiotic use.”

Focusing on a broad set of sustainability challenges, from GHGs to well-being, reflects consumers’ diverse views on the issues that matter most. Respondents globally were relatively evenly split between wanting livestock, poultry and fish farmers to focus on reducing antibiotics, using feed with sustainable ingredients, reducing pollutants and “doing more with less” (e.g., improving feed efficiency) – a long-standing sustainability driver for Cargill.