According to animal rights organisation Wakker Dier, the number of meat-free promotions available at Dutch supermarkets has barely increased for the third year in a row, remaining about the same on average. Additionally, there have been few reductions in meat promotions, with three available for every meat alternative offer.
The organisation noted that there were discrepancies between retailers, with Aldi and Hoogvliet having reduced their meat-free promotions by 38% and 34% respectively. On the other hand, Jumbo has increased its vegetarian offers by 41%, and Spar saw the second-highest increase at 31%.
Aldi runs 11 meat promotions for every meat-free offer, making it the worst-scoring supermarket in this area. Jumbo and Albert Heijn are tied in first place, with two meat promotions for every vegetarian offer.
These figures are somewhat surprising, since most major Dutch supermarkets have committed to increasing the proportion of plant-based proteins they sell from 40% to 60% by 2030. While animal meat sales are falling, it seems clear that retailers could be doing more to speed up progress.
“Disappointing. Supermarkets apparently prefer to pamper the carnivore rather than the conscious consumer,” says Anne Hilhorst of Wakker Dier.
Plant-based options thrive in catering
Meanwhile, figures produced by Foodstep and analysed by ProVeg paint a brighter picture of the Dutch catering industry. They indicate that total sales of meat alternatives to the sector more than doubled in two years, rising by 111% between 2021 and 2023 while animal meat sales reduced by 2%.
Similarly, dairy alternative sales were up 82% over the same period, while conventional dairy sales decreased. According to ProVeg, dairy products never recovered from the dip they saw during the pandemic and remain at around 78% of pre-lockdown levels.
The success of some dairy alternatives is striking; plant-based cream reportedly now accounts for 37% of the cooking cream used in education catering, and has a 12% share across all sectors. In quick-service outlets such as sandwich shops and coffeehouses, 19.7% of milk used is plant-based, with oat milk as the most popular option.
“What these products have in common is the high 1-to-1 replacement with the animal alternative,” said Martine van Haperen, food service expert at ProVeg Netherlands. “More and more caterers only offer plant-based cream, mayonnaise, or bitterballen. This is easier and more environmentally friendly than offering animal and plant options separately, especially because consumers taste hardly any difference. What strongly contributes to this is that caterers increasingly have hard sustainability goals, such as a 60/40 ratio between plant-based and animal protein in 2030. This probably explains the high volumes.”
