Plant-based meat substitutes, references to the environment may curb sales. British study

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The call for environmental sustainability, in the promotion of veggie burgers and other meat substitute products(Alt Meat), could have a boomerang effect and curb sales, which are starting to slow down.

A British study (Yule and Hill Cummings, 2023) suggests that conservative consumers in the U.S. are refractory to the idea of reducing animal protein consumption
For ‘environmental needs’. (1)

1) Plant protein, a necessary choice

The global population is expected to increase from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion by 2050. In order to provide a healthy and sustainable diet for all, the UN recommends a substantial reduction in red meat consumption, to be offset with plant-based sources of protein. (2) For health and the environment.

Annual global consumption of red meat (39 kg per capita) is now close to four times the recommended levels (< 10 kg). (3) And the meat supply chain emerges as a major player in the environmental impact of food production, expressing about 26 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. (4)

2) Alternative proteins, first signs of slowing down.

The aforementioned health and environmental requirements, in addition to innovations in food technology, have stimulated a vibrant market for alternative protein products. Plant-based foods (legumes, soybeans, cereals), mycoproteins, algae and microalgae, cellular agriculture (in the making).

After a rapid expansion, however, the alternative protein market is beginning to show signs of slowing down. (5)

The relatively high price of alternative proteins compared to meat and dairy products-in the current phase of marked inflation-is one possible cause. To which are added some doubts about the wholesomeness of some veg products. (6) But consumer resistance is also of a different nature.

3) US, carnivorous ideology

The authors of the study under review analyzed the messages adopted by ‘plant-based meat’ marketing and the reaction of avowedly conservative U.S. consumers when exposed to such advertisements. And they concluded that ‘the current message structure is incongruent‘ for that segment of consumers, in whom cultural resistance toward new consumption styles is strong.

The work was carried out in three stages:

– a pre-test survey of 262 conservative consumers who had never tried ‘vegetable meat’ ascertained their total disinterest in the Alt Meat category,

– analysis of 82 releases from Beyond Meat (U.S. industry giant with revenues of US$464.7 mln in 2021) shows how marketing is based on three key concepts. Taste, wholesomeness, environment. The first two fall within the desires of every individual, regardless of ideology. Instead, environmentalism is perceived by most conservatives as a threat to national sovereignty and economic power,

– study participants were subjected to two ad hoc created Facebook posts about nonexistent products that mentioned or omitted the environmental benefit of such products. And they confirmed that they are detachedly ignoring communications that refer to environmental protection.

A previous study (Slade, 2018) associates plant-based foods and vegetarianism-in the perspective of omnivores-with a liberal ideology in turn related to femininity and gender identity. (7)

4) Italy, first signs of distrust of ‘green’ rhetoric

The ‘green’ rhetoric, after all, is beginning to irritate even the Europeans, who:

  • suffer the impact of permacrisis caused by policy choices that are not at all green, such as intervention in a large-scale war between third countries,
  • observe the dichotomy between ‘green‘ policy and the diversion of huge public resources into armaments, as well as the use of coal-fired power plants to replace Russian gas,
  • react with distrust of climate change communication, which in Italy is considered excessive by 34.7 percent of respondents according to a recent survey. (8)

5) New marketing levers

A recent study (Vonk & Weiper, 2022) suggests addressing resistance from conservative consumers in the U.S. by proposing Alt Meat as ‘a technological victory of humans over nature.’ (9) It is perhaps no coincidence that cellular agriculture has garnered giga-investment in recent years.

In the Old Continent, healthy produce continues to garner interest. To this end, it is appropriate to check:

– The balance of nutritional profiles, in the face of excess salt/sodium already found on many ready-to-eat veg foods, (10)

– The organic certification of food. Those who spend no small amount on plant-based food logically expect it to be pesticide-free.

Marta Strinati

Cover image of Letch from herinst.org http://www.herinst.org/BusinessManagedDemocracy/environment/tanks/attack.html

Notes

(1) Jennifer A. Yule, Krista Hill Cummings. Conservative consumer disinterest in plant-based meat: A problem of message incongruence. Appetite. Volume 187, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106574

(2) United Nations. World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. (2022) billion in 2100 | United Nations. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/desa/world-population-projected-reach-98-billion-2050-and-112-billion-2100

(3) W. Willett, J. Rockström, B. Loken, M. Springmann, T. Lang, S. Vermeulen, T. Garnett, D. Tilman, F. DeClerck, A. Wood, M. Jonell, M. Clark, L.J. Gordon, J. Fanzo, C. Hawkes, R. Zurayk, J.A. Rivera, W. De Vries, L. Majele Sibanda, …, C.J.L. Murray. Food in the anthropocene: The EAT-lancet commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet, 393 (10170) (2019), pp. 447-492, 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4

(4) M. Crippa, E. Solazzo, D. Guizzardi, F. Monforti-Ferrario, F.N. Tubiello, A. Leip. Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Nature Food, 2 (3) (2021), pp. 198-209, 10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9

(5) S. Young, B. Baker, J. Cook, J. Upadhyaya. Plant-based meat gets a reality check. September 27 Deloitte Insights; Deloitte (2022) https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/retail-distribution/future-of-fresh-food-sales/plant-based-meat-sales.html

(6) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. Plant-based alternatives to meats, the nutritional challenges. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 19.12.22

(7) P. Slade. If you build it, will they eat it? Consumer preferences for plant-based and cultured meat burgers. Appetite, 125 (2018), pp. 428-437, 10.1016/j.appet.2018.02.030

(8) For 34.7% of Italians too much alarm about global warming. ANSA. 26.7.23 https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2023/07/26/per-347-degli-italiani-troppo-allarme-su-riscaldamento-globale_15ea381b-d169-4b67-9228-5fd3e5aff526.html

(9) R. Vonk, M.L.V. Weiper. Meat and interpersonal motives: The case of self-enhancement
The Journal of Social Psychology, 1 (2022), 10.1080/00224545.2022.2132369

(10) Dario Dongo. That vegan who breaks your heart. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 17.4.17

Marta Strinati
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Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".