Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Get in touch with us nowRetail sales value of meat substitutes in Europe 2010-2025
Between 2010 and 2019, the retail sales value of meat substitutes in the European Union and the United Kingdom increased by approximately 121 percent, reaching close to 1.4 billon euros in 2019. A further growth of meat substitutes' retail sales value is expected. The market pales in comparison to the meat market which is at about 135 times its size.
About a quarter of British meat eaters tried to actively reduce their consumption of meat in 2019. A relevant barrier for the success of substitutes on the British market were consumers perceptions of the products. Almost a third of consumers viewed them as too expensive and a quarter viewed them as highly processed. Only slightly less respondents said meat alternatives are not as good a source of protein as meat. For the producers of alternative meat products such as Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger, taste remains the biggest issue in producing attractive substitutes. Around twenty percent of British consumers were convinced that the products measure up to the taste of meat, leaving a lot of room for improvement.
European market for meat substitutes
The United Kingdom and Germany were the leading markets for meat substitutes in Europe. For 2018, estimates put the UK market at over 400 million U.S. dollars and Germany at around half of that. Both countries were also among the top five countries, together with Italy, Sweden and Spain, whose population were most likely to eat meat substitutes. As of September 2018, about 49 percent of the population of Great Britain would try such products, while French, Hungarian and Romanian consumers remain to be convinced with over 60 percent. In the case of Romania, over 70 percent of the populous in these countries stating that they would not eat plant-based alternatives.The British consumer base in focus
According to the producers of the Impossible Burger, a popular meat substitute product, a vast majority of consumers who eat the Burger are meat-eaters. Interestingly vegans in Britain were more likely to describe plant-based meat alternatives as ‘junk foods’ than meat eaters. Which gives us a perspective on who these products are predominantly aimed at.About a quarter of British meat eaters tried to actively reduce their consumption of meat in 2019. A relevant barrier for the success of substitutes on the British market were consumers perceptions of the products. Almost a third of consumers viewed them as too expensive and a quarter viewed them as highly processed. Only slightly less respondents said meat alternatives are not as good a source of protein as meat. For the producers of alternative meat products such as Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger, taste remains the biggest issue in producing attractive substitutes. Around twenty percent of British consumers were convinced that the products measure up to the taste of meat, leaving a lot of room for improvement.
