Alternatives to meat are trendy. Both the quantity produced and the number of manufacturers have been increasing for years.
Tofu sausage, soy patty and veggie burgers are increasingly in demand in Germany. Last year, companies in this country produced around 121,600 tons of vegetarian or vegan meat substitute products, 16.6 percent more than the year before, as the Federal Statistical Office announced.
According to the Wiesbaden authorities, production has more than doubled compared to 2019 (113.8 percent).
The number of companies that produce meat substitute products in Germany is also continuously increasing: most recently from 51 in 2022 to 67 in 2023. Despite the growth, the market is still a niche. With a value of 44.8 billion euros in 2023, meat production was almost 80 times larger than the value of meat substitute products (583.2 million euros). Last year, people in Germany consumed 51.6 kilograms of meat per capita, according to preliminary figures from the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE). A year earlier it was 52 kilograms.
Source: Stern
