Having worked on plant-based alternatives and sustainable food for many years ( before it was actually a THING), I developed some key metrics for success that are not always fully understood and applied when looking at recent launches and the category difficulties.
1. Environment is not enough. It creates noise and interest among consumers but it’s not enough when you are in front of the supermarket shelf.
2. Bad for me is much more powerful. A key reason for the success of the milk alternatives (vs. meat) is that a large proportion of consumers now believe drinking milk IS bad for you. Beef and pork, because of their high saturated fat content have a bad press (many Italians are convinced they can't digest it !) but it is hard to find a lot of consumers who think that eating chicken or fish is bad for them! American consumers seem to be more obsessed with their health than the planet. This could explain the meat alternative difficulties in this country (who was a trailblazer) vs. Europeans like Germans more planet-conscious and gradually adopting flexitarian diets despite the recent negative buzz.
3. Not all animals create guilt. Vegetarians are very clear about not wanting to hurt animals. If we all feel bad about how cows or chickens are treated in the meat manufacturing process (think about foie gras!), there’s very little guilt around fish! Again making fish alternative appeal harder to create.
4. Eating plant-based for a flexitarian is buying into a little feel-good moment, doing something good for you and the planet ( even a tiny bit!). So the brand needs to be meaningful and fight for a cause - think Patagonia, Tom’s shoes, Tony Chocolonely. This can go through sustainable packaging, building a positive corporate culture,using human language, quantifying the impact - even small - of eating less meat.
Barriers to address: we all know about the taste and price issues ( even if for some products now, the price premium is really not that high). But others are equality important:
5. Naturality is also celebrating vegetables: some flexitarians want a meat analog, often to convince other family members. If the children, teenagers or partners want tasty meat, mothers or partners will struggle to put on the table a lot of plant-based products ( cheese or eggs as alternatives are much easier). There's still a large proportion of consumers who don't want fake meat (not natural) but tasty vegetables that can easily replace a burger or a sausage. This is why a brand like Garden Gourmet has 2 clear offers: Vegetable Forward and Meat Mimicry. There is a lot to be done in Vegetable forward (consumers are not excited by what’s on the shelf) whilst most manufacturers focus on meat mimicry (better taste, clean formulation, cellular meat).
6.The switch is much easier for convenience or more processed food (e.g. nuggets, falafel, burgers, sausages) because it’s closer to the standard animal offer ( and frankly naturality is not your main driver when you buy in this category !). In the UK, vegan ready-meals work very well ( less so in Italy). Creating beef or chicken to place in the middle of the plate for a family dinner will be a real challenge ( but it’s also a white space).
7. Men and meat! In most families I have interviewed ( not Indian families or more gender-neutral couples), men are strongly resisting a meat-free diet. This is a long heritage that we unconsciously carry on with us: meat gives you strength, men want nourishing and high taste-intensity food (whilst women are fine with light meals). Campaigns with vegan athletes will change our mindset ( it already has with the younger generation), men are already groomed into eating yogurts ( but with black packaging and packed with proteins!) but it will take time. My bet is that it makes more sense to talk to fathers about their role as educators and role models. We tend to focus on mothers' responsibility, ignoring how much fathers are now involved in their children's education, taking paternity leaves and often cooking for their kids.
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