STUDY: Associations Between Consumption of Meats and Animal Product Alternatives

STUDY: The market for alternative animal products is predominantly omnivore-driven. 8% of omnivores eat meat substitutes on a regular, close-to-daily, basis and even more (14%) regularly consume dairy alternatives.

JULIA DAUKSZA: ‘Despite strong preferences for meat, many Americans report already reducing meat consumption (ranging from 16% to 39% depending on the survey) and even more say they intend to do so. However, the strategies they use to reduce and replace meat with alternatives are not well investigated… Faunalytics asked 1,431 participants about their eating habits regarding meat, dairy and animal product alternatives…

Over half (58%) of all respondents—most of whom were omnivores—had consumed animal product alternatives in the past three months. The type of diet did not matter: 58% of the omnivore group, as well as 50% of veg*ns, have tried the alternatives at least once. There was significant overlap in the people who had eaten both kinds of alternatives: while dairy/egg alternatives were slightly more popular than meat alternatives, 33% of participants had consumed both…

Meat alternatives include products like tofu, meatless burgers (made of soy, beans, nuts, etc.), other meatless “meats” (e.g. meatless “chicken” – soy nuggets, fingers, etc.). A large proportion of omnivores (43%) as well as veg*ns (22 out of 48*) had eaten meat alternatives in the past three months before the study…

Dairy and egg alternatives include products like non-dairy milk (i.e. made of soy, almond, oat, rice, etc.), egg replacers, non-dairy cheese (cashew/soy cheese, etc.) and other non-dairy products, like ice-cream, yogurt, etc. Almost half (48%) of all respondents had eaten dairy or egg alternatives at least once in the past three months, making it slightly more popular than meat substitutes (43%)…

The data points at the fact that the market for alternative animal products is predominantly omnivore-driven. From these results, we see that 8% of omnivores eat meat substitutes on a regular, close-to-daily basis and even more (14%) regularly consume dairy alternatives, largely thanks to flagship plant-based products such as non-dairy milk and meatless burgers.

At the same time, there is great untapped potential among consumers who have tried alternatives but still eat them only sporadically: about a quarter of all omnivores. Consumers that already made first steps in a “consumer journey” with animal product alternatives may be easier to reach and be persuaded to reduce meat than the half of omnivores who don’t eat alternatives at all.

The omnivore consumers of animal product alternatives exhibit both lower meat consumption and more positive attitudes toward “vegan” and “plant-based” labels (highlighted in the main study) than the conventional omnivore population. Although the relationship between dairy and egg alternatives and dairy consumption seems to be a more complex one, meat alternatives confirm their important role in omnivore’s meat reduction attempts’. SOURCE…

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