News + Trends

Meat substitute: production reaches a new record level

7.5.2024

Translation: machine translated

Less meat, more substitute products: As the Federal Statistical Office announced in a new press release, the production of meat substitutes increased by almost 17 per cent in Germany in 2023. A trend is also evident in Switzerland.

Seitan and tofu are in demand among Germans - especially in the form of meat substitutes. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 16.6 per cent more veggie sausages and the like were produced in 2023 than in 2022: a total of 121,600 tonnes of vegetarian or vegan meat alternatives. Only half as many in 2019. These new findings are in line with the opposing trend in meat consumption. The Federal Office for Food and Agriculture (BLE) has already announced that per capita meat consumption in 2023 was at a record low of 51.9 kilograms. By comparison, this is 15% less than in 2018 with 60.9 kilograms per capita.

So more and more people are turning to substitute products instead of conventional meat - even if their diet is not entirely plant-based. According to the BLE, the reason for the increase in meat avoidance is the "growing awareness of the effects of high meat consumption on our own health, the climate and the environment".

Stagnation in Switzerland

As far as Switzerland is concerned, there is currently no clear upward trend in meat substitutes. Consumption of substitute products has risen sharply since 2018. In the last two years, however, it has stagnated, depending on the source. The butchers' association Proviande has published that the share of plant-based alternatives "has not increased in relation to the overall market compared to the previous year". However, the so-called "Veganuary", or vegan January, is clearly recognisable in the chart. The trend of abstaining from animal products in the first month of the year has been reflected in a sharp rise in the curve at the beginning of the year since 2021.

Every fourth person consumes meat alternatives

In its Plant Based Food Report 2024, Coop, which sells numerous substitute products, also states that the demand for meat alternatives has tended to decline over the last two years. Nevertheless, according to the report, 28 per cent of the Swiss population regularly eat meat alternatives, i.e. around one in four people. According to the survey, the main reasons for this are environmental protection (63%), personal health (51%) and animal welfare (50%).

Statista, on the other hand, forecasts growth in market sales of meat alternatives by 2028. Similar trends can be seen in the Galaxus shop: our buyers told me that substitute products have become increasingly popular with our customers in recent years. The most popular is a meat alternative from Veganz based on seitan. It was almost exclusively rated with 5 stars. The range in this area is also being constantly expanded. New arrivals in the shop include "Ghackets" from Brewbee.