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As the debate around climate change continues to take centre stage, AHDB's autumn instalment of its We Eat Balanced campaign has helped push the positive role of British meat and dairy production in the move towards a sustainable future. Mollie Leach reports.

Hitting social media platforms, the six-week We Eat Balanced campaign has continued to create a ‘drumbeat' around the sustainability credentials of food and farming within the UK, the result of which has seen a positive attitudinal shift among the ‘waverer' category of consumers.

Identified as those most likely to be actively reducing their consumption of meat and dairy, Susie Stannard, AHDB's senior consumer insight analyst, said the campaign had successfully reached the ‘bullseye' target audience.

She said: "Among what we have termed the digitally engaged ‘waverers', we have seen a significant growth in perceptions that pork, beef and lamb are produced in a sustainable way by 8 percentage points and that dairy is an important part of a healthy balanced diet by 9 percentage points.

"We also saw significant uplifts in consumer attitudes around the high production standards of meat and dairy and its natural production."

With the campaign coinciding with this year's COP26 conference, Ms Stannard re-emphasised the campaign had opened an important opportunity to cut through the noise on social media and had allowed consumers to make informed decisions about their food choices.

She said: "We knew farming would be increasingly under pressure in recent weeks and we therefore wanted to arm consumers with the facts around the UK's sustainable farming practices.

"Given the UK's predominantly grass-fed systems and the use of natural rainfall designed to help reduce water use and cut carbon emissions, when consumers choose British meat and dairy, they can be confident that they are purchasing some of the most sustainable meat in the world."

And with social media awash with misinformation, Ms Stannard said it was now more crucial than ever to be supporting farmers.

Speaking on the reach of the campaign, AHDB's senior marketing manager Nicola Dodd said: "The campaign delivered 38 million impressions across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and online video channels.

"This resulted in a total of 5.5m views on our videos, which helped to inform people about the UK's sustainability credentials in the production of beef, lamb and milk, along with health messages promoting pork as a natural source of vitamin B12."

But the work does not stop there, added Ms Dodd, as AHDB prepared for the next burst of the campaign, set to hit television screens in January.

Running from January 4 until February 27, 2022, the decision to create a TV advert was a ‘fundamental one', said Ms Dodd.

She said: "With greater emphasis from external brands and organisations to cut meat and dairy intake particularly in the month of January, the TV advert has been designed to educate consumers on the sustainability aspects of British farming, but also dial up messaging around the health benefits of consumption."

Reassuring consumers that meat and dairy have an important role to play within a healthy balanced diet, the campaign's consumer-focused marketing will consist of in-store supermarket signposting, takeovers in national newspapers and television advertising running across ITV, Sky and Channel 4.

Ms Dodd said: "Now is the time to help consumers reappraise their relationship with meat and dairy. Both food groups are a source of vitamin B12, which cannot be found naturally in foods of plant origin, and therefore add great nutritional value to our diets."

And with farmers serving as the lifeblood of these sustainability messages, the autumn burst of the campaign also saw the levy board kick-start the Farmer Ambassador Programme.

A recruitment drive designed to find farmers passionate about making their voices heard, the initiative has seen hundreds of farmers take to social media to celebrate the important work being done by the industry as it moves towards net zero.

With content also focused on providing consumers with clear messages around the nutritional benefits of beef, lamb, pork and milk as part of a healthy, balanced diet, the strategy has provided farmers with the opportunity to shine a light on their efforts to produce environmentally friendly and sustainable food.

Spotlight: Charles Goadby, mixed farmer, Warwickshire

Charles Goadby is a mixed farmer from Warwickshire, milking 350 housed dairy beef cattle, with an additional 344 hectares (850 acres) of combinable crops.

Recruited as part of the Farmer Ambassador Programme, a key component of AHDB's We Eat Balanced campaign, Mr Goadby said the initiative had helped farmers to communicate directly with the public to dispel myths around food production.

He said: "I strongly believe farmers have struggled to engage with the consumer and their customers, which has led to the public feeling detached with the food they eat, how it is produced and how that fits into the environment.

"This has been prayed on by some with alternate motives, creating a void which has been filled with misinformation, false truths and conspiracy theories, exacerbated in recent times with the growth of social media."

But Mr Goadby added the #WeEatBalanced social media posts had helped to let the public understand the ‘nuances' of farming and feel like they were ‘part of it again'.

He said: "The facts and resources AHDB has brought together have been wonderful in helping farmers add evidence and backing to their stories.

"I think this is a campaign which needs to be repeated and pushed more than ever with the future of diets, livestock and farming high on many peoples' agenda on the back of the COP26 conference."

BOX OUT: Farmer Ambassador Programme: How to get involved

• For more information and to find out how to get involved in the Farmer Ambassador programme, please email [email protected]

BOX OUT: About the We Eat Balanced Campaign: January 2022

• Running from January 4 until 27 February 2022
• The TV advert is designed to educate consumers on the sustainability aspects of British farming and the nutrients found in red meat and milk, particularly vitamin B12
• Three different end frames will be shot and used on rotation, featuring a delicious looking pork, beef or lamb dish
• Consumers will be directed to the We Eat Balanced consumer website for more information about food and farming from Britain, and a key message about ‘Enjoy a little goodness' will also be featured
• As part of AHDB's investment into the We Eat Balanced campaign, consumer-facing social media activity will now run throughout the year on Facebook and Instagram
• This ongoing social activity aims to bring to life the story of farming in the UK to protect positive attitudes towards red meat and dairy
• Activity will highlight and share positive stories the British meat and dairy industry must tell, particularly in relation to nutrition and sustainability