Flexitarian: collaboration can hold meat market share

Pragmatic flexitarian diet set to capture 50% of UK population by 2025

 

50% of UK Consumers will be flexitarian by 2025, according Vegconomist, the leading vegan business magazine. If meat processors and their suppliers are to retain market share, now is the time to collaborate to build new flexitarian brands consumers can trust.

 

Research by AllinAll in 2020 found that while consumers like eating meat and there is a growing preference among consumers to eat less meat- for health and/or environmental reasons, this does not mean that everyone wants to switch to a plant-based or meat-free diet. On the contrary, according to a recent YouGov survey, 73% of UK consumers still describe themselves as ‘meat eaters’. This compares to 7% who describe themselves as ‘vegan’, ‘vegetarian’ and ‘pescatarian’, and 14% who describe themselves as ‘flexitarian’.

 

The Growth of Flexitarianism

 

The percentage of UK consumers describing their diet as ‘flexitarian’ grew 9%* between May 2018 and March 2019, according to data gathered from European and UK sources. And if the increase in Google search trends is anything to go by, ‘flexitarianism’ is a trend that is here to stay. (*  European ComRes survey May 2018 | YouGov Whitepaper March 2019)

 

With the majority of consumers locked down for most of 2020, the flexitarian trend has grown more quickly, according to research from Brand Legacy. Unsurprisingly, growth is particularly strong among that all-important younger demographic.

 

AllinAll agree with the YouGov report conclusions predicting that Flexitarianism is most likely to be the “prevailing diet of the future”, for consumers who want to “experiment with food, without  placing arbitrary limits on what they can eat”.

 

Meat industry must stake our claim

 

As an ingredients supplier and partner in NPD development, AllinAll believe that collaboration is the way forward for our beleaguered meat industry. By acting together now, we can stake our claim on the growing flexitarian category. We can retain market share for our meat brands and position our industry as environmental champions. After all, who is better placed to cater for those consumers, soon to be half the UK adult population, who care about their health and the environment – but who still love eating meat.

 

AllinAll’s Flexitarian Credentials

 

AllinAll’s NPD team have been working on flexitarian for the past two years. New products include 59% minced beef meatballs, patties, steaks and kofta. Find out more or contact us to discuss your flexitarian NPD needs.