Society

51% of Meat-Eaters Plan to Eliminate or Reduce Meat in 2021

Recent research conducted by FMCG Gurus has found that 29% of global consumers currently eat plant meat products and 41% of consumers are already consuming dairy alternatives. Even better, 51% of regular meat-eaters are planning to either moderate or eliminate meat from their diet over the next twelve months.

BUT – the majority of respondents felt that plant-based products are “bland and boring”, and worried that they would struggle in the long term. How is this possible at the end of 2020 with the options we have available? When in almost every part of the world we now have multiple plant-based fish, seafood, bacon, SPAM, corned beef, fois gras, beef, pork, meatballs, chicken, turkey, eggs, butter, and cheese products which taste and cook like the real thing?

What are they worried about?

  • 74% say taste is the most important factor influencing plant dairy product choice
  • 34% of consumers admit that they think plant-based food and drink will taste bland and boring
  • 66% of consumers who do not eat plant meat say that they are conscious about the taste of such products
  • 29% are conscious about what the texture will be like
Zero Egg Sandwich
© Zero Egg

With such a wealth of choice now in international markets, one wonders where these people live and what is stopping them from sampling the products that are so widely available and growing at an exponential rate.

How can we get such products off the shelves and into the hands of such consumers so that they can see that plant-based food is absolutely not “bland and boring”? It’s time for governments to step up and start pushing the products and the lifestyle that is the only answer to the climate crisis, in the way that they have always pushed the meat and dairy products that have caused the same.

“Now more than ever, marketing teams need to step up their storytelling.  For the longest time, we have been focused on getting the tech right by matching taste and texture. These are critical and we have been mostly successful.  But if consumers are still recounting fears of eating hockey pucks, twigs and bark, we will never break through.  It is time to double-down on storytelling by creating appetizing, impactful and engaging consumer narratives like we doubled down on tech,” says Elysabeth Alfano, Founder of Plant Powered Consulting and Host of the Plant-based Business Hour.

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