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Between 2010 and 2019, the retail sales value of meat substitutes in the European Union and the United Kingdom increased by approximately *** percent, reaching close to *** billion euros in 2019. A further growth of meat substitutes' retail sales value is expected. The market pales in comparison to the meat market, which is at about 135 times its size.

European market for meat substitutes

The United Kingdom and Germany were the leading markets for meat substitutes in Europe. For 2018, estimates put the UK market at over *** million U.S. dollars and Germany at around half of that. Both countries were also among the top five countries, together with Italy, Sweden and Spain, whose population were most likely to eat meat substitutes. As of September 2018, about ** percent of the population of Great Britain would try such products, while French, Hungarian and Romanian consumers remain to be convinced with over ** percent. In the case of Romania, over ** percent of the populace in these countries stating that they would not eat plant-based alternatives.

The British consumer base in focus

According to the producers of the Impossible Burger, a popular meat substitute product, a vast majority of consumers who eat the Burger are meat-eaters. Interestingly, vegans in Britain were more likely to describe plant-based meat alternatives as ‘junk foods’ than meat eaters. Which gives us a perspective on whom these products are predominantly aimed at.
About a ** of British meat eaters tried to actively reduce their consumption of meat in 2019. A relevant barrier for the success of substitutes on the British market were consumers perceptions of the products. Almost a of consumers viewed them as too expensive and a quarter viewed them as highly processed. Only slightly fewer respondents said meat alternatives are not as good a source of protein as meat. For the producers of alternative meat products such as Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger, taste remains the biggest issue in producing attractive substitutes. Around ** percent of British consumers were convinced that the products measure up to the taste of meat, leaving a lot of room for improvement.