Socio-demographic profile and pattern of meat consumption of the consumers of Thrissur corporation

The present study analysed the socio-demographic profile and the pattern of consumption of meat among consumers in the Thrissur Corporation area of Kerala state, India.A survey research design using a pretested structured schedule was employed among a sample of 150 meat consumers. The results revealed that majority of the respondents were female (65.30 per cent) and belonged to middle age group of 30-50 years (51.3 per cent). More than three-fourth of the consumers had a family size of up to four members (78 per cent).The annual income of majority of the respondents was within the range of one to ten lakh (66.70 per cent) and nearly 40.70 per cent of consumers were graduates.The results of this study indicated that all the respondents preferred to consume chicken when compared to chevon (39.3 per cent), beef (72.6 per cent), pork (37.3 per cent), or rabbit meat (4.7 per cent).Majority of the consumers consumed meat once or twice a week (73.3 per cent) and all the respondents assessed the quality of meat based on its colour. Most of them preferred to purchase meat from the local meat stalls (97.3per cent).Consumers reported that the reason for their preferred place of purchase was the availability of quality and fresh meat. Keywords: Meat preference, meat type, meat quality, sensory quality