Limited to no meat intake for nearly half of Brits: study
Meat reduction has returned to around the level seen in 2019 following a dip in 2020, Mintel said.
Forty-nine per cent, or just under half of Brits are now limiting their meat intake or not eating it at all in the past year, up from four in ten (41%) in 2020, according to new data from Mintel.
The statistic is almost back in line with 2019 levels where the figure stood at 51%.
The trend towards meat reduction also comes as sales of sausages, bacon and burgers dropped an estimated 4.3% in 2021 falling to £2.628 million, following the 2020 high when sales increased 22% to reach £2.755 million.
Meanwhile, sales of meat substitutes often made from textured vegetable protein, such as soy, are estimated to have increased by 9% in 2021, reaching £598 million, a slower rate of growth than 2020 when sales increased 34% to reach £551 million.
Overall, 53% of Brits say they enjoy meat substitutes, signalling their widespread appeal beyond non-meat eaters. Despite the buzz around the vegan trend, just 2% follow a purely vegan/or plant-based diet.
“The fact that nearly half of adults now either don’t eat meat/poultry or are limiting intake poses a challenge for the meat industry and points to vast further potential for meat substitutes’ growth, if they can win favour as the alternative. It also offers compelling evidence of how media coverage around meat has reached consumers, with eating less meat widely associated with various benefits,” Mintel senior food and drink analyst Richard Caines.
Nearly half of Brits (47%) also believe that eating less meat is better for the environment, a view that has nearly doubled from a quarter (25%) of consumers in 2018.
Helping the environment is also seen as the number one benefit from meat reduction, greater than helping consumers manage their weight (28%) or saving money (27%). Other benefits include reducing the risk of disease (25%) and feeling good (23%).
“Reducing meat consumption has been identified as one of the key components of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change by governmental organisations, and more and more people are making a positive link between eating less meat and benefiting the environment. Public awareness is likely to have been further increased by the COP26 conference,” Caines explained.
“Mintel predicts a longer-term increase in interest in sustainability. People are becoming more conscious of their purchase choices and the wider consequences that these have. Almost three in ten (28%) Brits believe that the environment is a higher priority for them since the COVID-19 outbreak. This will lend ongoing momentum to both the meat reduction trend and the scrutiny of the sustainability of meat substitute products.”
