World-wide cuisine serves up opportunities for red meat and dairy.

 According to research from AHDB, when preparing evening meals, people are moving away from protein-centred dishes such as roasts and pies, towards world-wide cuisines such as Italian, Indian and Mexican.

And with these dishes frequently featuring red meat as an ingredient, AHDB believes the new ‘trends’ offer opportunities to boost sales of beef, pork, and lamb as well as cheese.

The new findings from AHDB’s Consumer and Retail Insight team show that dishes like chili and tacos have helped support growth for primary beef – with Mexican cuisine featuring in 5.7 percent of all beef meal occasions.

While lamb has a smaller presence in mealtimes compared to other red meat, opportunities exist within curries – with Indian dishes being a key area of growth for lamb. This growth has come from households without children and less affluent consumers, who account for 60 percent of in-home lamb Indian dishes – up from 36 percent last year.

Aside from cooked sliced meats, there is a real opportunity for pork in East Asian cuisine, led by the popularity of sweet and sour and Thai dishes. And for cheese, 33.8 percent of Italian dishes served in the evening feature cheese – which has been in growth over time.