Abstract: In this study, the mutton consumption status in Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province was investigated by using questionnaire survey method to understand the mutton consumption of the main sheep breeding areas. The results showed that the mutton consumption in Zhangjiakou City accounted for 23.93% of the total meat consumption; the respondents who considered the safety and quality of mutton accounted for 52%, which was the most important factor for consumers to make purchasing decisions; the respondents whose consumption decision impacted by the factor of price accounted for 23%, and those who considered the income, age and season when made the purchasing decisions accounted for 25% in total; the consumers preferred the mutton produced from the sheep raised by free grazing way, and most of them chose to purchase the fresh mutton from mutton exclusive shops; the popular mutton product types mainly included mutton rolls and mutton shashlik. This study tries to link the sheep breeding with mutton consumption, and analyzes the characteristics of mutton consumption in the farming-pastoral zone in Hebei Province, in hoping to provide references for guiding the breeding direction of the mutton sheep industry.

Key words: mutton consumption, mutton safety, mutton quality, mutton product type, breeding way