Plant-based meat producers might be able to stem sliding gross sales and volumes by tweaking advertising and marketing to extra prominently spotlight well being advantages – attributes that usually take a backseat to style, however which analysis from the Good Meals Institute suggests may drive greater spend within the phase.
“A elementary barrier” to plant-based meat consumption is style and worth, however past these “shoppers nonetheless want a compelling purpose to make a distinct selection, and for a lot of we all know that well being is, or will be, that purpose,” mentioned GFI Affiliate Director of Market Insights Jody Kirchner.
Pointing to shopper analysis performed by GFI, she defined that customers who take into account well being an important consideration when deciding what to eat spend notably extra on wholesome meals than those that do take into account well being a prime precedence. This contains fruits, greens and beans, in addition to plant-based meat – suggesting they see it as a wholesome meals as properly. Likewise, shoppers who mentioned they assume plant-based meat is wholesome spend extra on it than those that disagree or are uncertain.
“That raises the query, in fact, what are shoppers truly in search of when they give thought to well being. And the place does plant-based meat have alternatives to enhance these perceptions,” Kirchner added.
Prioritize protein
Unsurprisingly, protein is a prime precedence that customers can pay extra for when deciding on meat, however solely about half of plant-based meat consumers truly assume the merchandise are excessive in protein.
Equally, “about half of all shoppers nonetheless assume typical meat outperforms plant-based meat on protein,” regardless that plant-based meat merchandise steadily have a comparable quantity of the macronutrient in comparison with the animal-based merchandise they exchange, Kirchner mentioned.
To shut the hole between shopper perceptions and precise efficiency, she recommends plant-based meat producers name out extra clearly on pack the protein per serving.
“It’s actually amount of protein that tends to rise to the highest when it comes to what shoppers are most involved about,” fairly than the standard of the protein, she added.
Fiber for the win?
Calling out the quantity of fiber in plant-based meat could also be one other missed alternative for entrepreneurs, Kirchner mentioned.
She famous that almost two-thirds of US shoppers try to devour extra fiber, making it the second most sought nutrient after protein. Likewise, digestive well being, which his extremely related to fiber, the third most essential well being profit shoppers take into account when selecting meals. Weight administration and coronary heart well being are the highest two respectively, in response to information offered by Krichner.
“Nevertheless,” she added, “once we focus in on shopper decisions in relation to meat, it will not be a shock that fiber will not be a consideration for a lot of shoppers. They’re simply not used to fascinated with fiber within the context of meat. So, they could should be made conscious that there’s the potential to get fiber in a meat product.”
Calling out fiber together with protein in plant-based meat may give it a aggressive edge over animal sources for health-conscious buyers, she added.
“The mix of protein plus fiber truly makes plant-based meat fairly uniquely positioned to fulfill shoppers’ prime nutrient priorities in a single bundle,” she defined.
Are coronary heart well being claims a missed alternative?
Enhancing coronary heart well being messaging, similar to low in saturated fats or low ldl cholesterol, may additionally enhance plant-based meat’s attraction to health-conscious shoppers who more and more fear concerning the influence of their weight loss program on their coronary heart well being.
About half of plant-based shoppers in GFI’s analysis famous coronary heart well being was a prime profit they take into account when selecting meals, and information from the Worldwide Meals Info Council reveals 45% of US shoppers try to restrict or keep away from saturated fats, which might negatively influence coronary heart well being.
Ldl cholesterol, excessive quantities of which might compromise coronary heart well being, is one other nutrient shoppers usually say they keep away from, Krichner added.
GFI analysis reveals that customers who understand plant-based meat as having decrease saturated fats are related to greater spend, however a whopping two-thirds of plant-based meat shoppers don’t understand the merchandise as doing “very properly” on being low in saturated fats, she mentioned.
“So once more, there appears to be a chance right here for enhanced messaging” round coronary heart well being and plant-based meat, she mentioned.
Class pioneer Past Meat leaned into this chance when it debuted Past IV within the spring of 2024 and went the additional mile to qualify the brand new iteration, together with its Past Crumbles and Past Steak, for the American Diabetes Affiliation and American Coronary heart Affiliation Coronary heart-Verify program.
‘No antibiotics or hormones’ claims are an inherent, untapped alternative
Extra shoppers are involved about avoiding hormones and antibiotics in meat than they’re about excessive protein – opening the door for plant-based merchandise to make highly effective free-from claims.
In response to GFI analysis, 58% of plant-based meat consumers say no hormones or antibiotics is a “crucial” well being attribute they take into account when selecting meat. As well as, consciousness of the attribute is related to above common spend on plant-based beef, in response to the non-profit.
This mix suggests “leveraging this inherent advantage of plant-based meat in a chance,” GFI stresses.
Optimize ingredient lists
Mounting issues about ultra-processed meals and clear labels could possibly be a menace to some plant-based meats, however the merchandise seem to get a cross for essentially the most half, in response to GFI analysis.
Despite the fact that plant-based meats are sometimes related to lengthy ingredient lists and regarded ‘processed’ in comparison with ‘pure’ animal protein, Krichner mentioned GFI discovered plant-based-meat consumers who say they keep away from processed meals truly spend about the identical quantity on plant-based meat as those that don’t keep away from processed meals.
Likewise, GFI discovered solely a “small portion” shoppers who usually are not shopping for plant-based meat mentioned processing was an element of their resolution.
Nonetheless, GFI discovered shopper perceptions about components do influence meals buying habits. For instance, shoppers who search for shorter ingredient lists spend lower than common on plant-based meat, with 10 components being a notable cut-off level.
It additionally discovered shoppers are extra involved with components similar to methycellulose, vegetable oil, salt, cultured dextrose and modified meals starch, Kricher mentioned. Substances in plant-based meat that customers seen positively together with pea protein, avocado oil, pure flavors, brown rice protein, pink lentil protein, soy protein, tofu and sunflower and coconut oils.
Primarily based on these insights, Krichner recommends plant-based meat producers shorten and optimize ingredient lists and clarify how their merchandise are made – even at a primary stage – to assist drive preliminary trial by shoppers who’re hesitant to buy the phase.
“Sodium content material is one other potential space for analysis,” she added. “It’s one thing that we see is prime of thoughts for a lot of shoppers, and a few do say it’s a barrier to them contemplating or consuming extra plant-based meat as we speak.”
Whereas well being is essential to plant-based meat buyers, it doesn’t trump style, which is why Krichner confused any reformulation or ingredient messaging should be balanced with the potential or perceived tradeoff with style.
