It’s not a good time to be a meat alternative brand.
Pressures are coming from all sides. On the one hand, many consumers are not as interested in sustainability as they once were, an aspect the meat alternatives category
On the other, backlash against ultra-processed foods is putting many plant-based foods into the spotlight – and not in a good way.
The pressure is on for the meat alternatives sector to reinvent itself, to find new reasons for consumers to buy their products, and to embrace food’s new obsession: health.
Meat alternatives and the health trend
Health, both in demand for functional and whole foods, has been the defining trend of the past year.
Trends as functional drinks, gut health-promoting foods, and anything high in protein and fibre are drawing in consumers, who want ingredients that will give them tangible benefits. Meanwhile, the backlash against UPFs has aligned with a return to scratch cooking and a love of whole foods.
Meat alternatives are caught between two competitors. When it comes to flexitarians, who make up most of their market, they’re competing with real meat. Conventional meat can be considered, at least in its unprocessed form, a healthier option. Indeed, animal-source proteins generally are of a higher quality than plant-based ones, albeit with some exceptions.
On the other side, plant-based whole foods such as fruit, vegetables and nuts, as well as more traditional meat substitutes like tofu, tempeh, and seitan, offer a more traditional, often more nutritious alternative to plant-based burgers and sausages for vegetarians and vegans.
In contrast, meat alternatives, rightly or wrongly, are often perceived as unhealthy and tarred with the ‘ultra-processed’ brush. They may contain, on average, fewer additives than sliced bread, but that’s not how consumers see it.
Facing stiff competition on both sides, meat alternatives need to reimagine themselves.
Alt meat aims to shake off ‘unhealthy’ associations
A shake-up is needed. And many of the key plant-based brands have taken it upon themselves to make this happen, taking their cues from the current consumer landscape and trying to adapt their products to fit it.
Beyond Meat, following several less-than-stellar earnings reports, is focusing on functional health with its new Beyond Ground product.
Containing 27g of protein and 4g of fibre, the product is also refraining from meat imitation, meaning it doesn’t invite direct comparisons to another product. Instead, it’s very much its own thing.
As is plant-based brand THIS’s Super Superfood product, which also focuses on health and nutrition.
A versatile product that can be incorporated into a range of meals, super superfood is, according to the brand, made up of 100% natural ingredients (including spinach, shiitake mushrooms, and seeds), aiming to appeal to consumer desire for clean label products.
Moving Mountains, another plant-based brand, is perhaps moving most significantly away from meat mimicry with its superfood range. Among the products in the range is a falafel, appealing to consumer desire for less processed food while at the same time giving them something familiar.
Even Quorn, one of the first companies on the meat substitutes scene, is changing. The company is reformulating, removing artificial ingredients from some of its key products.
While in the past, meat alternatives would often parade their health credentials, never has the focus on health been so central as now.
Only time will tell if this newfound focus on health will be successful. But meat alternative companies have certainly seen where the wind is blowing, and taken it to heart.
