American appetite for meat stays strong into 2026

The brightest spot in the animal protein segment over the past couple of years has been consumer demand. Americans are still overwhelmingly choosing protein as retail meat department dollar sales were up 6.8% and unit sales were 2% higher for the 52 weeks ending January 2026, according to a recent CoBank report based on Circana sales data.

Even though retail sales have picked up, consumers are still spending more money to eat out. When accounting for inflation, food away from home expenditures averaged $349 per month per capita during 2025, up $10 from 2024. This compares to just $263 for monthly food “at home” expenditures, which was $3 higher year on year.

Labour cost at the foodservice level is one of the largest contributors for the jump in the food away from home metric. As labour and other necessary input costs became more expensive, menu prices had to reflect the changes. More quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are featuring chicken items over hamburgers or beef to help keep margins afloat alongside all other rising costs.

Despite a more favourable feed cost environment and strong consumer demand, the animal protein herd and flock size of total grain-consuming animal units has stabilised at 100 million animal units over the past four years.

Since the peak in 2019 at nearly 102 million animal units, cattle on feed has been the primary sector losing animals, however this has been slightly offset with growth in hogs and poultry.