Call on businesses to reduce meat consumption; offer more alternatives

More and more people are taking a flexitarian approach to their eating habits, states a new research, highlighting that retail and food makers businesses have a real opportunity to capitalise on this by offering tasty and enticing plant-based alternatives.

According to new YouGov study commissioned by animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming on 14,147 adults across 12 markets, nearly a third (31 per cent) agreed that retailers and food providers need to help society to reduce its meat consumption through innovation, such as making plant-based alternatives more widely available.

22 per cent of respondents also said that they needed to help by reducing the meat on offer through portion control or the quantity of meat put into products.

The survey commissioned by Compassion in World Farming also found that there was an overall net decrease in meat consumption, with 34 per cent saying they had either decreased significantly, or slightly decreased their consumption of meat over the past 12 months.

On being asked how they to reduce their meat consumption, 37 per cent of UK respondents said it could be achieved by eating more vegetables, pulses and lentils, followed by 36 per cent who preferred to eat meat less frequently, and 32 per cent who proposed introducing meat free days into their week. 74 per cent of respondents listed price/affordability as an important factor when considering their diet.

Plant-based alternatives, whose texture and taste mimic meat, are seen as a vital step in encouraging dedicated meat eaters to reduce their meat consumption.

“It’s clear to see from this research that more and more people are taking a flexitarian approach to their eating habits due to concerns about animal welfare, human health, and the environment, and, to a large extent, consumers expect food companies to make it easier for them to succeed in their meat reduction journey,” global director of food business at Compassion in World Farming, Dr Tracey Jones said.

“Food businesses have a real opportunity to capitalise on this by offering tasty and enticing veggie alternatives and by using less but better quality, higher welfare meat and dairy in their products – not only during Veganuary but throughout the year.”