Industry overview
What is shaping meat & poultry
Meat, poultry and egg businesses are moving from wet markets to packaged and online formats, where hygiene, freshness and trust decide whether consumers switch.
- Packaged and online meat is growing
- Hygiene perceptions drive outlet choice
- Farm practices affect supply and quality
Client background
A municipal corporation, working in A large city in Maharashtra. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A municipal corporation
- Sector
- Meat & poultry
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Government research, Qualitative research, Quantitative research
Client challenge
The municipal corporation planned to modernise its abattoir and meat markets to improve hygiene and waste management. Butchers and traders feared higher fees and relocation, and opposition threatened to delay the project.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: stakeholder research for a municipal abattoir modernisation.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of butchers.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of residents.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 300 butchers and 1,000 residents.
- butchers300
- residents1,000
Audiences we typically reach in meat & poultry
Meat and egg consumersRetailers and butchersOnline buyersPoultry farmersRestaurant buyers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: A large city in Maharashtra. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Butcher and trader interviews
- 3Resident survey
- 4Insight
We interviewed butchers, traders and transporters about their operations, costs and concerns, and surveyed residents about hygiene expectations and willingness to pay slightly more for safer meat. Interviews were conducted in Marathi, Hindi and Urdu at markets during working hours.
Government researchQualitative researchQuantitative research
Sampling strategy
- butchers
- 300
- residents
- 1,000
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Butchers supported modernisation if fees were phased in and transport from the abattoir to markets was provided.
- The corporation included phased fees and transport in its plan.
Involving traders early turned opposition into conditional support.
Recommendations
- The corporation also set up a market committee with trader representatives to oversee the transition.
- Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.
What we recommended, and the client put into practice
Business impact
- Residents strongly supported improved hygiene.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Evaluation findings with programme recommendations
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: why do consumers prefer one outlet?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.