If you want to know what’s up in red meat, who better to ask than Australia’s peak industry body for beef and lamb (and goat, and veal), Meat and Livestock Australia. They’ve just released their Rare Medium 2026 red meat trend report, and we’re here to share some of the key takeaways.
“The modern diner is discerning,” says Mary-Jane Morse, brand content manager for MLA. “They crave global flavour, provenance, and indulgence – but they want it to feel accessible.” At this intersection, where budgets tighten at the same time that appetite for experience grows, she says, chefs are responding with intention and ingenuity. “Techniques are evolving, flavour profiles are expanding, and cultural influences are colliding.” The old rule book? It’s gone. In its place are menus that celebrate craft, creativity, and connection.
Let’s dig in with six of the trends Morse and her team see shaping our plates in 2026 and beyond.
All cuts considered
Whole-beast cooking has shifted from a fine-dining flex to a cost-control strategy and back again, and whether it’s beef shin and lamb neck, or tongue, heart and caul fat, cuts from the more scenic parts of the carcase are on the menu. “Offal is finding its way into tacos, terrines, and charcuterie boards, while bones become the base for nutrient-rich broths, and tallow is key for high-heat frying,” says the report, “and even as a beauty-balm.” Pirate Life in South Melbourne is spotlighted in for buying whole goats from Meredith Dairy and smoking and shredding the meat for goat tacos with cashew mole. Further down the price scale, APCO service stations across Victoria are selling $7 slow-cooked lamb shoulder jaffles.
Remixed roots
This trend, the report says, is all about third-culture cooking, where chefs run family recipes through modern technique and local produce. “For diners, this trend offers new nostalgia, comforting flavours reframed in unexpected ways,” say the authors. “For chefs, it’s a creative playground that allows personal storytelling and cultural pride to shine.” That could be birria ramen, a beef-mince Wellington, bulgogi with pepperberry. “It’s a movement that speaks to identity, inclusivity, and the joy of discovery – one plate at a time.”
The main event
In other words: dishes that are all about a single dish or concept. The report’s case is commercial as much as creative: tighter menus mean less waste, and diners decide in under two minutes. “Imagine a venue dedicated to the perfect dry-aged ribeye, or a modern lamb chop house where provenance and preparation take centre stage.” Melbourne’s outpost of Japanese ramen specialist Mensho puts lamb offcuts to work, concentrating trim and gristle into the sauce for its spicy lamb soba.
Cured and crafted
This trend frames time-honoured techniques such as salting, smoking, fermenting, and dry-ageing as markers of patience, skill, and provenance. “These methods don’t just preserve; they transform, unlocking layers of flavour and creating stories worth sharing.” At Zareh in Collingwood, for example, Tom Sarafian’s bastourma toast takes about three months to prepare – wagyu girello salted, cured, brined in red wine, hung until it drops a third of its weight, then coated in chemen spice. “It’s almost everything I love about Armenian mezze at the start of the meal,” says Sarafian. “You would usually have bread, cheese, herbs, peppers, bastourma, so we’ve put it all together into a couple of convenient bites.”
Living luxe
This is luxury without the tablecloth: dry-aged steak, highly marbled lamb and slow-braised comfort dishes in relaxed rooms, plus butcher’s boxes and meal kits at home. David Blackmore’s pioneering wagyu appears twice in the report, as whole carcases dry-aged in-house at a Sydney club, and as an entire city allocation of shin going into one bakery’s three-day pie. “In a two-speed economy, diners are seeking experiences that feel special without the formality or price tag of fine dining. They want quality, provenance, and a sense of occasion delivered in ways that feel accessible and rewarding.”
Stacks of snacks
Diners watching their spend and chasing their protein are among the drivers for expanding snacking and snack menus. Snacking now accounts for 14 per cent of foodservice spend, up four per cent year on year. And then there’s the fun factor – a snack here or there breaking up the formality of tasting menus. At Yiaga in Fitzroy Gardens, Hugh Allen salt-cures meat from a 14-year-old retired wagyu cow and drapes it over a bite-sized steamed bun with green ants and wild garlic capers.
The big wrap
Sitting behind the six are four macro forces: a growing, ageing and more ethnically diverse population; cost-of-living pressure that isn’t letting up; protein as the wellness marker of the moment; and sustainability that diners say matters but won’t pay extra for. The full report – including suggested cuts, in-venue activations and retail ideas for each trend – is available from MLA now.
raremedium.com.au/profiles/2026-red-meat-trends
Follow MLA’s Rare Medium for more: @_raremedium