CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction

[Name of the Institute]CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

UK's meat demand is important to the UK's economy. In 2008, UK's consumers spent around $69 billion on food in retail stores (Statistics UK , 2009). As the primary source of fat for both children and adults, meat is an important component in diets (Statistics UK, 2007). Changes in meat demand can have an impact on all segments of the food chain, which include agricultural input suppliers, food producers, processors, and distributors (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2009). Thus, understanding the factors that are influencing meat demand in UK is important for the UK's agricultural sector. Moreover understanding consumer meat preferences in general is increasingly important in the context of health concerns, animal disease and food safety outbreaks.

1.2 The UK's Meat Industry—An Overview

The meat and poultry industry is positioned as one of UK 's most important manufacturing industries (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2009). In 2008, UK 's annual shipments from the meat industry were $16.2 billion, which ranked as the largest sector of the UK's food manufacturing industry. Various meat products, including fresh/frozen, semi-processed, and processed meats, as well as sausage and deli meats are well established and produced by UK 's meat processing companies. An increasing number of meat producers are expanding into new markets for organic and value added meat products (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2009).

1.3 Food Retailing—Store and Brand Choices

Retailers are the closest and most frequent point of contact for consumers to the meat industry and they can directly influence household meat purchasing. The competitive landscape in retailing has changed over the past 40 years in UK . The number of grocery stores has been declining whereas the size of the existing stores has been increasing, partially due to new entry by so-called supercenters e.g. Wal-Mart, (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2008). In 2005 UK 's food retail sector had sales of about $71 billion for food and non-alcoholic beverages. Approximately three quarters of the sales were distributed through large grocery store chains (e.g. Loblaw, Sobeys, and Safeway) and traditional grocery stores. Other format distributers, such as discount clubs (e.g. Costco and Sam's Club), large mass merchandising chains (e.g. Wal-Mart), and convenience stores (e.g. Mac's, 711) have established a significant presence (27 per cent) of food sales in UK (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2008).

1.4 Consumer Demand and Value added Meat

Changing consumer demand is one of the most important drivers behind the challenges and opportunities that are facing the agriculture and agri-food sector in UK (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK , 2009). Several studies have documented changes in meat consumption in the U.S over the past 30 years (Chavas, 1983; Moschini and Meilke, 1989; Thurman, 1987). Similar patterns can be observed in UK . From 1970 to 2001, UK's preferences of meat consumers shifted from pork and beef to poultry meats (Chen and Veeman, 1991; Reynolds and Goddard, 1991). In the 2006 UK's Consumer Perceptions of Food Safety and Quality survey (Agriculture and Agri-Food UK ...