The average Belgian bought 32.1 kg of fresh meat in 2009. That is a decline of 500 g compared to the previous year. Expenditure on fresh meat also fell a little. The average family spent 284.30 on fresh meat in 2009. That is Û0.80 less than in 2008. Both the purchasing frequency and the number of families who bought meat declined somewhat. Belgian meat consumption has recently been dominated more and more by meat mixtures, which now account for one-third of total purchases of fresh meat. This is followed by pork and beef with 30% and 27% respectively. Belgian consumers also opted for more variety in their meat purchases in 2009. Less important categories such as veal, mutton and lamb actually gained some ground. Walloons eat more meat than do residents of Flanders and Brussels. Meat consumption also increases strikingly with average age. The wholesale sector and butchers remained the most important purchasing channels for fresh meat and achieved volume shares of 44% and 27.2% respectively in 2009. The rise of cost cutters seems to have come to an end: their volume share declined from 6.9% in 2008 to 6.4% in 2009.