Food is now "essentially free" and it is added qualities such as convenience, variety and health benefits that we pay for, a conference in Dublin has heard.
Prof Lowell Catlett of New Mexico State University in the US said: "Coffee that is brewed at home costs approximately six cent per cup and is, for all intents and purposes free. A latté, cappuccino or a Starbucks is not. Consumers pay for the value-added of convenience and variety."
Wine became the most popular alcoholic drink in the US in 2005 in part because of the "value-added health and safety component", he added.
Prof Catlett was addressing delegates to the 52nd International Conference of Meat Science and Technology in Dublin yesterday.
He said the same principles applied to meat. "Just as Starbucks is not about coffee but a lifestyle, the same is true for meat. Quantity and quality are moving targets that have to adjust to changes in lifestyle worldwide.
"To be sure we consume more coffee thanks to Starbucks, but only because we can get it skinny, with a twist, to go, no foam."
This lesson, Prof Catlett said, must be drawn by the meat industry if it is to take advantage of greater demand in emerging economies and selling to "savvy" consumers. "Even in emerging societies, meat producers, wholesalers and retailers must increasingly be aware of convenience, variety, health and safety," he said.