Plant-based eating and alternative proteins are on the rise. More consumers are limiting consumption of animal agriculture-derived products, and this dynamic segment of food and nutrition is home to continuing innovation. Health, sustainability and animal welfare are key motivators, and consumer demographics indicate a healthy future. This report explores the market, providing guidance for future strategies, detailing the important segments, and showcasing key innovations.
This report comes in PPT.
Approaching one in five (23%) consumers globally now report that they are trying to limit their meat intake, up slightly from 21% in 2020. 16% say they are trying to follow a plant-based diet, and 15% are trying to limit their dairy intake – all significantly outstripping the 4% and 7% of vegans and vegetarians, respectively.
Almost two fifths (37%) of those who eat processed plant-based meat alternatives say they do so to feel healthier, the largest response across the potential motivational factors. Environmental concern is also important (21%), as is animal welfare (19%).
Younger adults are the core consumers; while more than half of those aged 60+ never eat alternatives, that figure falls to just 25% of 15-29-year-olds. Moreover, young adults are most likely to be vegan/vegetarian and, alongside 30-44-year-olds, are most likely to be trying to follow a plant-based diet.
In December 2020, the first cell-cultured meat approved for human consumption went on sale in Singapore. Governments around the world are following Singapore’s example in seeing lab-grown protein as potentially vital to greenhouse gas-reduction strategies and food security goals.
With health claims so important to the success of alternatives, it is no surprise that they are coming under increased scrutiny, encouraged by the animal agriculture industry. Such challenges are also coming internally; producers duel to illustrate that their product is healthier as consumer demands move beyond simply “something that is not meat/dairy”.
Fresh Food refers only to fresh uncooked and unprocessed foods (packaged and unpackaged). Packaged sugar products and natural sweeteners (e.g. brown sugar, table sugar, molasses) are also included. For Fresh Food, we research total sales across distribution channels including retail, foodservice and institutions. For a selected 18 markets, we have a breakdown of total fresh food sales according to the following formats: • Retail • Foodservice sales • Institutional sales Retail Retail sales is defined as sales through all legal establishments primarily engaged in the sale of fresh, packaged and prepared foods for home preparation and consumption. Retail sales excludes sales to hotels, restaurants, cafés, duty free sales and institutional sales (canteens, prisons/jails, hospitals, army, etc). Our retail definition excludes the purchase of food products from foodservice outlets for consumption off-premises, eg grilled chicken/meat/fish bought from counters of cafés/bars. This falls under foodservice sales. For foodservice, we capture all sales to foodservice outlets, regardless of whether the products are eventually consumed on-premise or off-premise. We estimate sales through the following channels: Modern Grocery Retailers • Supermarkets • Hypermarkets • Discounters • Convenience stores • Forecourt retailers Traditional Grocery Retailers • Independent small grocers • Food/Drink/Tobacco Specialists • Other grocery retailers (morning/speciality/open/wet/farmers’ markets, stalls and kiosks, etc) Non-grocery retailers • Health and beauty specialist retailers • Other non-grocery retailers Non-store retailers • Homeshopping • Internet retailing • Vending • Direct selling Foodservice Foodservice sales are defined as sales TO consumer foodservice outlets that serve the general public in a non-captive environment. In other words, this means that the foodservice volumes track sales of all fresh food going into restaurant kitchens, regardless of what the restaurant actually does with that food. Foodservice outlets include cafés/bars, FSR (full-service restaurants), fast food, 100% home delivery/takeaway, self-service cafeterias and street stalls/kiosks. Sales to semi-captive foodservice outlets are also included. This describes outlets located in leisure, travel and retail environments. • Retail refers to foodservice units located in retail outlets such as department stores, shopping malls, shopping centres, super/hypermarkets etc. • Leisure refers to foodservice units located in leisure establishments such as museums, health clubs, cinemas, theatres, theme parks and sports stadiums. • Travel refers to foodservice units based in airports, rail stations, coach stations, motorway service stations offering gas facilities etc. Institutional sales Institutional sales is defined as sales to captive foodservice units that serve captive populations such as in hospitals, schools, prisons, military camps, hotels, hostels, nursing homes, homes for elderly people, religious houses, etc.
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