The popularity of air fryers could be contributing to China's insatiable appetite for beef, an analyst says.
Beef imports, mostly from South America, reached record numbers in China this year, according to Australia's manager of Market Insights, Vereena Rooney.
"There was a real protein gap for China, largely driven initially by African Swine Fever," she said.
"During COVID people were seeking out beef because of the perceived immunity benefits and the positive health benefits, as well, that they associate with beef.
"Australian product is considerably more expensive than the South American product, so it's perceived as being a premium product."
More Chinese households were willing to cook with beef than in previous years, which Dr Rooney believed was because of air fryers.
"There's also a fast increase in the number of affluent household exposed to beef," she said.
"The other interesting thing that's happened that's kind of helped to support that is the popularity of air fryers.
"So more people have air fryers and are comfortable cooking beef at home, whereas in the past beef was typically something that was consumed whilst they were dining out."
New dishes in lockdown
Dr Rooney said beef dishes have traditionally been perceived as difficult to cook in some Chinese households.
"Particularly in parts of Asia, culturally, they've got different kitchen set-ups to what we have here in Australia," she said.
"So in some countries it's actually quite common for them to have an outdoor kitchen or cooking area and not have an indoor facility, or else they might just have a really small stovetop.
"The popularity of air fryers has been quite significant in those markets, because it means that consumers throughout Asia are discovering new ways to cook more Western-style foods, like a steak, and so it's really kind of opened up their cooking repertoire."
Dr Rooney said she expected the strong demand to continue for the time being.
"In countries like China, obviously food service is still very much impacted by ongoing COVID lockdowns," she said.
"People have had to cook at home a lot more than they did before the pandemic and it is a sort of new and exciting way for people to cook when they've got a new piece of equipment.
"It's been quite an interesting phenomenon for us to observe."
