Cost of living crisis | FMCG | Elaine Coppard
Plant-based: time to re-focus
Meat-free January saw 8% of meat eaters stripping meat out of their diet for a month (this rose to a staggering 20% for Gen Zs) and the overall growth of the plant-based sector suggests it’s not just a flash in the pan. Indeed 42% of us said we planned to reduce our animal product consumption in 2023, and a trend that’s not exclusive to the younger generation, with Gen Xs very much on board with a flexitarian life-style.
While it seems like great news for the plant-based product industry, it is by no means a home-run. This category faces a lot of challenges as data from our tracking research ‘The Measure of 2023’ reveals. The main driver of reduced meat and dairy consumption is health, well ahead of animal welfare or environmental factors (which we know slip down on the list of consumer priorities when faced with rising costs of living).
But on the flip side, health is also the main reason people are sticking with meat and dairy. Consumers are aware that more processed options might lack the nutritional content that meat and whole foods possess. We’ve already seen a switch to whole foods as consumers strive to save money by cooking from scratch and in bulk. Pulses are lentils offer a healthy and economical option, particularly compared to the often more premium price point of branded plant-based products and while inflation has pushed prices up in other categories, the price gap between them is still evident.
One of the biggest challenges for the industry is consumer concern around about the amount of artificial ingredients that go into plant-based products. While the main ingredients are indeed, plants (soybeans, peas, wheat etc), they can also be very highly processed. With growing negative noise around ‘ultra processed’ foods, plant-based manufacturers need to pivot their focus onto health, taste, clean ingredients and convenience to re-enforce their value. Environmental and animal welfare credentials while still relevant, are no longer the main headline.
