Why are Consumers Buying Fewer Meat Alternatives?

[Lou]

We need to campaign to stop public money going to meat. Just make sure it doesn't alienate by coming across as anti-meat or a campaign that only vegans would support.

Yeah, it would have to be packaged very carefully. Perhaps as a tax cut. and maybe the elimination of subsidies could be seen as some kind of Pro- equity strategy. Like less tax breaks and less subsidies to mega corporations (big food).

US Congress started down this road in what I think was 2019, and the Green New Deal. The Republicans went nuts. Headlines started showing up like this one:

Ocasio-Cortez, like Stalin, is coming for your burgers, former Trump aide warns

Threatening to take away a Californian’s In-N-Out burger? That’s the kind of thing that could change minds, sway elections and maybe even turn a blue state red.

www.marketwatch.com

Actually the Green New Deal doesn't mention hamburgers. Or even cows. It does say, “working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in the United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible.”

And if you squint and read between the lines you can see that means less cows and less burgers.

 

[LoreD]

There are probably other threads that are a better fit for this story - but this thread has been pretty active and interesting so far so I thought this article would get the attention it deserves here.

The “gigantic” power of the meat and dairy industries in the EU and US is blocking the development of the greener alternatives needed to tackle the climate crisis, a study has found.​

​

The analysis of lobbying, subsidies and regulations showed that livestock farmers in the EU received 1,200 times more public funding than plant-based meat or cultivated meat groups. In the US, the animal farmers got 800 times more public funding.​

‘Gigantic’ power of meat industry blocking green alternatives, study finds

Analysis of EU and US shows livestock farmers receive about 1,000 times more public funding than plant-based and cultivated meat

www.theguardian.com

I think the animal agriculture power is declining. I am in a dairy state, and dairy farms are going bankrupt all over the place. Ranchers are selling off their herds, and getting out of the business.

When I go into the milk section, the plant milk section is three times the size of the dairy milk section. The dairy section is always full, while the plant milks are picked over.

I keep hearing how Impossible and Beyond have declining sales, but is the entire alt meat sector staying stable or growing?

The answer might be that individual company's sales are declining because of increased competition, but the overall alt meat market doing fine.

There are so many choices these days, that most people don't have to stay brand loyal.

 

[Lou]

I think the animal agriculture power is declining. I am in a dairy state, and dairy farms are going bankrupt all over the place. Ranchers are selling off their herds, and getting out of the business.

I am in a Dairy State too. But I think Your view might be skewed cause you live in Wisconsin and not California. Yes it's true that dairy farms are going out of business but that does not tell the whole story.

The US procuces more milk per year than it did 20 years ago. And it does that will a lot less cows, farms and farmers. One consideration is that that today's cow produces a lot more milk that a 20th century cow. Also there are just a lot less small dairy farms. And. a lot more large dairy farms.

When I go into the milk section, the plant milk section is three times the size of the dairy milk section. The dairy section is always full, while the plant milks are picked over.

I do agree that today's plant milk section is Much bigger than it was 20 years ago. And retail milk sales have declined in the last 20 years too. From 53 to 40 billion pounds. And although sometimes dairy farmers have to destroy milk in order to keep prices up, most of that decrease in retail sales is going into other products. In fact, Wisconsin is sort of the leader in innovation, with a University research department that is finding novel uses for milk.

I don't have exact numbers but for every gallon of plant milk sold, there is about 15 gallons of cow's milk sold.

I keep hearing how Impossible and Beyond have declining sales, but is the entire alt meat sector staying stable or growing?

After a few years of amazing growth its stable and decreasing slightly


-----------------------

U.S. dairy: total milk production 2024 | Statista

The United States produced about 226.6 billion pounds of milk for human consumption in 2023.

www.statista.com

U.S. dairy herd numbers fall to 27,932

The average U.S. cow produced 24,067 pounds of milk in 2022.

www.farmprogress.com

U.S. milk sales 2022 | Statista

This timeline shows the total milk retail sales in the United States from 2005 to 2022.

www.statista.com

UWRF Dairy Innovation Hub researches potential new uses for milk ingredients and byproducts

University of Wisconsin-River Falls Assistant Professor Grace Lewis is looking to find value-added products for milk proteins. Lewis, who is part of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, was hired and started in August through funding from the Dairy Innovation Hub to...

www.wisconsin.edu

Dairy Disrupted

Consumers are finding more reasons to turn to plant-based milk alternatives, although taste is still sometimes a purchase barrier.

www.ift.org

2022 Retail Sales Data — Plant Based Foods Association

Plant-based foods dollar sales grew 6.6% to $8 billion with units mirroring total food and animal-based food, declining 3%.

www.plantbasedfoods.org

 

[LoreD]

I am in a Dairy State too. But I think Your view might be skewed cause you live in Wisconsin and not California. Yes it's true that dairy farms are going out of business but that does not tell the whole story.

The US procuces more milk per year than it did 20 years ago. And it does that will a lot less cows, farms and farmers. One consideration is that that today's cow produces a lot more milk that a 20th century cow. Also there are just a lot less small dairy farms. And. a lot more large dairy farms.

I do agree that today's plant milk section is Much bigger than it was 20 years ago. And retail milk sales have declined in the last 20 years too. From 53 to 40 billion pounds. And although sometimes dairy farmers have to destroy milk in order to keep prices up, most of that decrease in retail sales is going into other products. In fact, Wisconsin is sort of the leader in innovation, with a University research department that is finding novel uses for milk.

I don't have exact numbers but for every gallon of plant milk sold, there is about 15 gallons of cow's milk sold.



After a few years of amazing growth its stable and decreasing slightly


-----------------------

U.S. dairy: total milk production 2024 | Statista

The United States produced about 226.6 billion pounds of milk for human consumption in 2023.

www.statista.com

U.S. dairy herd numbers fall to 27,932

The average U.S. cow produced 24,067 pounds of milk in 2022.

www.farmprogress.com

U.S. milk sales 2022 | Statista

This timeline shows the total milk retail sales in the United States from 2005 to 2022.

www.statista.com

UWRF Dairy Innovation Hub researches potential new uses for milk ingredients and byproducts

University of Wisconsin-River Falls Assistant Professor Grace Lewis is looking to find value-added products for milk proteins. Lewis, who is part of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, was hired and started in August through funding from the Dairy Innovation Hub to...

www.wisconsin.edu

Dairy Disrupted

Consumers are finding more reasons to turn to plant-based milk alternatives, although taste is still sometimes a purchase barrier.

www.ift.org

2022 Retail Sales Data — Plant Based Foods Association

Plant-based foods dollar sales grew 6.6% to $8 billion with units mirroring total food and animal-based food, declining 3%.

www.plantbasedfoods.org

A lot of that might be milk exports. 16% of U.S. milk is for export

Dairy 2021 Export Highlights

Top 10 U.S. Agricultural Exports to Indonesia (values in million USD) Commodity 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2020-2021 % Change 2017-2021 Average Soybeans 922 998...

www.fas.usda.gov

Despite the logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. dairy exports soared in 2021, growing by 19 percent to reach a record $7.7 billion. This will be the fifth consecutive year that U.S. dairy exports have grown, reflecting an annual average growth rate of 9 percent since 2017.

Mexico remains the leading market for U.S. dairy products accounting for nearly a quarter of all exports. After a disappointing year in 2020, shipments to Mexico rebounded strongly by 28 percent, led by sales of skimmed milk powder (SMP) and cheese. Strong sales were also posted to Canada and China, which had year-over-year gains of 16 percent and 38 percent, respectively. Most shipments to Canada consisted of highly processed dairy products, such as infant formula and milk-based drinks, while exports to China were comprised mostly of SMP, whey, and whey products. U.S. dairy exports also registered notable gains in established markets such Japan and South Korea and newer markets in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam.

 

[Lou]

A lot of that might be milk exports. 16% of U.S. milk is for export

Oh yes. Good point.

 

[Lou]

I haven't heard of Sentient Media. It appears they are on our side.

The New Science the Plant-Based Industry Needs To Know

New research suggests plant-based burgers need to be more than tasty, cheap and convenient.

sentientmedia.org

 

[Lou]

Expletive Deleted

Personally, I thought we had gotten away from vegan hate.
according to this article, plant based meat sales have gone down because of something like that.
That sales are down because plant-based meats claim to be good for the environment which is too left wing a concept.
I don't know how that can explain the downward trend of sales. If it's too left wing now - what was it before?
Although maybe the current divisiveness of the Right has something to do with it. They just like to hate things.

"A different survey shows that more than half (53%) of US consumers who have not bought or tried plant-based meat may be reluctant to buy a product they view as “woke”.

Plant-based meat sales are stagnating – our research suggests playing down its green benefits could attract more consumers

US study shows environmental messages can put conservative consumers off trying and buying plant-based products.

theconversation.com

 

[Mufflon]

In Germany sales simply seem to have gone down because that stuff is still too expensive compared to meat products. As long as the plant-based alternatives are more expensive than the meat products this is not going to change.

 

[shyvas]

In Germany sales simply seem to have gone down because that stuff is still too expensive compared to meat products. As long as the plant-based alternatives are more expensive than the meat products this is not going to change.

Same over here. In the UK there is far more choice of pb products and they are very good value for money.

 

[Mufflon]

Lately I see quite a bit of 30% or even 50% discounted products because they're reached their BB date. While I'm taking advantage of that I wonder if in the long run it will lead to variety going down.

Plant based alternatives are way too expensive over here, especially cheeses. The nut-based ones are outrageously expensive but even the I'm-almost-exclusively-oil-cheeses are so damn expensive. Yes, it got better after the big players discovered the market and discounters like LIDL and Penny launched their Vemondo and Food for Future brands. Also VeHappy which you can buy at Edeka and Netto.
However, for non-vegan people to actually prefer the plant based alternatives they have to be cheaper than the meat, especially with so many budgets being as tight as they are because of inflation.

 

[shyvas]

Sales of Plant based products in the UK supermarkets are on the increase.

Growth of the Plant-based market: The Drivers, Opportunities and Challenges - Croft Filters

Customers have started to lean towards more ethical, environmental, and health-conscious choices whilst shopping for groceries. As a result, we have all seen the shelf space dedicated to plant-based food and drink in supermarkets grow before our eyes in just the last few years.

filters.co.uk

 

[Emma JC]

read this interesting article today and thought it might be relevant -

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/lupin-bean-plant-based-foods-1.6945048

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[g0rph]

A local restaurant chain "Pinchos" has started selling "New meat" by Redefine Meat.

Redefine Meat - New Meat, No Compromise

Creating a world where anyone can enjoy great New-Meat, without compromising on taste, sustainability, or experience.

www.redefinemeat.com

I'm looking forward to trying it.
Digging around, it appears to have some backing...