Ellen Codd, Amsterdam Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
Meat substitutes are going from strength to strength in the Netherlands. The Beyond Burger, fresh from raising $240 million in its IPO last week, also launched in market leader Albert Heijn last week. Already available in foodservice chains such as Thrill Grill and Ellis Gourmet Burger, this is the first listing in Dutch retail for the pioneering plant based meat substitute company. With the market for meat substitutes in the Netherlands expected to grow by 6% in 2018 and 8% in 2019, Beyond Burger is catering to an increasing number of consumers who identify as flexitarian for health, climate, or animal welfare reasons.
Global demand for plant proteins
This ties in to a growing demand for plant based proteins designed to look and taste like meat and can appeal to vegetarians and meat eaters alike. 93% of the Beyond Burger’s customers are flexitarian, rather than vegan. With the worldwide meat substitutes market expected to reach €6.43 billion by 2023, both foodservice players and retailers are reacting to this trend. McDonald’s, for example, is now selling the Big Vegan TS in Germany and Burger King announced that it will roll out the Impossible Burger across the US. Retailers too are catering more to the flexitarian consumer, such as Tesco’s private label vegan range, which opts for plain branding without calling out its vegan ingredient list so as not to deter mainstream consumers.
What implications does this have for the meat category?
Although 37% of Dutch consumers claim to eat less meat than five years ago, meat consumption in the Netherlands has remained mostly stable throughout the last ten years, while consumer spending on meat has risen. This offers an opportunity for premium products, as consumers who are choosing to eat less meat can opt for better quality products when they do eat meat.
