Meat consumption in Germany has been falling for years. Vegetarian and vegan alternatives benefit from this. And the meat industry is adapting to it.
The trend towards vegan and vegetarian meat substitutes continues.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, 98,000 tons of food worth 458 million euros were produced in Germany last year, replacing meat or meat products with plant-based alternatives. In terms of quantity, this means an increase of 17 percent, the statisticians reported on Monday. The value of the goods even increased by 22.2 percent. According to market researchers, the trend has continued in the current year.
In the first quarter of 2022, sales of meat and cheese substitutes rose again by 13.3 percent, bucking the general trend in consumer goods, according to a recent study by the market research company GfK. However, according to GfK, the discounters’ and supermarkets’ own brands, which are generally less expensive, developed significantly better than the offers from branded companies. GfK left it open whether this was due to the high inflation rate, falling real wages and the relatively high prices of manufacturer brands, or whether it was the result of an expanding and also qualitatively improved range of private label products. It’s probably a mix of all of that.
Meat consumption has been declining for some time
Meat consumption has been declining in Germany for some time. According to the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food, it was 55 kilograms last year. Ten years earlier it was 7.8 kilograms more per person per year. Nevertheless, according to the Federal Statistical Office, the value of meat production in 2021 at 35.6 billion euros was still around 80 times the value of meat substitutes.
The meat industry has long felt the trend towards meat substitute products and is adapting to it. According to its own statements, the meat manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle sold more vegan and vegetarian products than classic meat and sausage products for the first time in 2021.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
