Demand Potential for Goat Meat in Southern States: Empirical Evidence from a Multi-State Goat Meat Consumer Survey

Introduction

The past decades have experienced substantial changes in meat demand and consumer
preferences. The declining beef, fast growing poultry, and leveling-off pork consumption
characterized the well-known shift from “Red” to “White” meat (USDA/ERS).
Consumers have become concerned more about specific attributes of meat products, such
as tender, juicy, cholesterol, calorie contents, and artificial ingredients (Menkhaus et al.).
Visible and intramuscular fat emit more the detrimental effect on the willingness to
purchase meat (Levy & Hanna). Price retains its influence on the market share of various
meat products, although the demand is less elastic. The extensive discussion on more
issues on meat market has been well documented in a large body of literature (Gao and
Spreen; Menkhaus et al.; Moschini et al.; Levy and Hanna; Resurrection).

The substantial changes on meat market and evolution of consumer preferences
slowly created a market environment favorable for goat meat consumption. Goat meat
has won favorable recognition for its quality (Babiker, et al.; Rhee, et al.), which match
consumer preferences for low-fat meat and consumer concerns on health. The increasing
demand for goat meat drew some attention (Dubeuf, et al.; Rhee, et al.; Pinkerton, et al.;
Zachery and Nelson). Yet, in contrast to other meat products, goat meat remains a
segment largely neglected on meat market and an issue less discussed in academia. Only
a limited list of publications was identified from our literature search. Problems remain
on the lack of understanding of demand assessment, consumer preferences, niche markets,
and other aspects of the goat meat market. Quite often, the data required for qualified
studies were either unavailable or of poor quality on both time and space dimensions.
Studies on the demand for goat meat based on reliable data thereby are warranted.

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