Is meat falling out of favour?

Towards the end of last year, YouGov survey results revealed that one in three Brits (35 per cent) are willing to consider eating less meat, with one in five (20 per cent) saying they had already cut back on the amount of meat they ate over the previous year. Only five per cent said they are eating more meat.

A meat free diet is just one of the many free from trends sweeping the industry. Much like the gluten free lifestyle being adopted by consumers keen to cut ingredients in pursuit of a ‘healthier’ lifestyle rather than as a result of gluten intolerances, meat free foods appeal to a far wider audience than vegetarians. Whilst concern for animal welfare is still high on the agenda for those opting for a meat free diet, other motivating behaviour includes health concerns related to high meat consumption, cost savings linked to lower meat consumption and concern over feeding the world more fairly.

Nowhere is this trend more evident, it seems, than among young consumers in Germany – with new Mintel figures showing that as many as 15 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds consider themselves to be vegetarians, that’s more than double the national average of seven per cent.

Elsewhere in the world, international campaign Meat Free Mondays is proving popular, with the organisation behind the move highlighting things such as ‘help our beautiful planet’, ‘be healthy and happy’, ‘save the pennies’ and ‘think of the animals’ as reasons to go meat free once a week. There’s also a Meat Free May campaign, which encourages consumers to kick start their lower and better meat diets as a result of the damage being done to the planet and our health by current meat and fish consumption levels. And more and more meat free restaurants seem to be popping up all over the place.

The meat free craze points towards a bright future for the meat substitutes category.

Katya Witham, senior food and drink analyst Germany at Mintel, says, “When it comes to German consumers’ motivations for shifting their diets towards meat alternatives, the reasons stretch far beyond vegetarianism, offering much scope for future NPD based on meat substitutes’ ability to meet numerous consumer needs, from health through variety to ethical considerations.”

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