For the most up-to-date meat substitutes market research, take a look at Mintel’s newly published UK Meat Substitutes Market Report 2025
Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK Meat Substitutes Market Report 2023. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest meat substitutes research, trends and consumer behaviours affecting your business. Get a 360° view of the meat substitute industry including market size, share and forecasted growth to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.Â
Topics Analysed in this Report
- The impact of the rising cost of living on the meat substitute market, including sharp volume declines in both the chilled and frozen segments.
- Key trends in recent launch activity and future opportunities in the meat substitute industry.
- Meat eating habits and usage of meat substitute products.
- Factors that would encourage consumers to buy meat substitute products, including low price and better-for-you attributes.
- Consumer behaviours and attitudes related to meat substitute products.
Meat Substitutes Industry Outlook
The income squeeze has continued to exert pressure on the meat substitute market, with sales falling steeply in 2023. The relative affordability of processed meat, vegetables and legumes compared to meat substitutes will have curbed the appeal of meat substitutes.
Meat Substitutes Market Trends and Opportunities
Better-for-you holds wide appeal
Perceptions that eating less meat is better for your health are among key drivers behind the meat reduction trend. This strong expectation of healthiness points to a pressing need for brands to ensure that the nutritional credentials of their products hold up to scrutiny.
- Meat substitute industry trend: 79% say that healthy attributes like high protein or fibre content would make them buy a meat substitute or buy them more.
Allay concerns about processing
Meat substitute products have been called out in the recent dialogue about ultra-processed foods. This points to a pressing need for brands to address such concerns and demonstrate an openness about the manufacturing process to keep consumers engaged with the meat substitute industry.
- Meat substitute market statistic: 52% of consumers believe that meat substitute that mimics meat is heavily processed.
Purchase our UK Meat Substitute Report to receive a five-year forecast, consumer behaviour analysis, and recommendations for market opportunities. Readers of this report may also be interested in our A Year of Innovation in the Meat Substitute and Eggs Report 2023, or our range of Meat Alternatives Market Research.
Brands Featured in the Full Report
Holland and Barrett, ASDA, Better Nature, Planted, Biffs, Heinz, Tender’lish, Happiee!, Heura, VFC.
Expert Insights from a Food Analyst
This report, written by Isabelle Shilling, a leading research analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight trends in the meat substitute industry and add expert context to the numbers.
Sales continued to fall steeply in 2023. Highlighting sustainable credentials and clean-label positioning will be opportunity areas for the category moving forward.
Isabelle Shilling
Research Analyst
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- Key issues covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the meat substitute market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: retail value and volume sales of meat substitutes, 2019-23
- Graph 2: retail value sales of meat substitutes, by segment, 2021-23
- Graph 3: leading brands’ sales of sales and shares of chilled meat substitutes retail market, by value, 2020/21-22/23
- Graph 4: leading brands’ sales of sales and shares of frozen meat substitutes retail market, by value, 2020/21-22/23
- Key market drivers
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 5: meat eating habits, 2018-23
- Graph 6: benefits associated with eating less meat, 2020-23
- Graph 7: types of meat substitutes eaten in the last six months, 2023
- Graph 8: frequency of eating meat substitutes, 2021*, 2022** and 2023***
- Graph 9: factors that would encourage buying of meat substitutes, 2023
- Graph 10: behaviours related to meat substitutes, 2023
- Graph 11: “Knowing more about the environmental impact of switching from meat to meat substitutes would encourage me to do so”, by meat substitutes usage, 2023
- Graph 12: attitudes towards meat substitutes, 2023
- Innovation and marketing
- Graph 13: share of new launches in processed fish, meat & egg products, by subcategory, 2019-23
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Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 14: retail value and volume sales of meat substitutes, 2019-23
- Market forecast
- Market segmentation
- Graph 15: retail value and volume sales of meat substitutes, by major segment, 2021-23
- Graph 16: retail value sales of chilled meat substitutes, by sub-segment, 2021-23
- Graph 17: retail value sales of frozen meat substitutes, by sub-segment, 2021-23
- Market share
- Graph 18: leading brands’ sales of sales and shares of chilled meat substitutes retail market, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- Graph 19: leading brands’ sales of sales and shares of frozen meat substitutes retail market, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 20: GDP, 2021-23
- Graph 21: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 22: “Have you been affected by any of these issues over the last two months? Please select all that apply.”, 2023
- Graph 23: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 24: the financial confidence index, 2016-23
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Graph 25: meat eating habits, 2018-23
- Graph 26: how often people try to eat healthily, 2018-22
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Meat eating habits
- Graph 27: meat eating habits, 2018-2023
- Graph 28: meat eating habits, by age, 2023
- Benefits associated with eating less meat
- Graph 29: benefits associated with eating less meat, 2020-23
- Graph 30: meat eating habits by perceptions that eating less meat is better for the environment, 2023
- Usage of meat substitutes
- Graph 31: meat substitutes usage in the last six months, by meat eating habits, 2023
- Graph 32: meat substitutes usage in the last six months, by age, 2023
- Graph 33: types of meat substitutes eaten in the last six months, 2023
- Frequency of eating meat substitutes
- Graph 34: frequency of eating meat substitutes, 2021-23
- Graph 35: frequency of eating meat substitutes, by meat eating, 2023
- Factors that would encourage buying of meat substitutes
- Graph 36: factors that would encourage buying of meat substitutes, 2023
- Graph 37: factors that would encourage buying meat substitutes, by meat substitutes buying, 2023
- Behaviours related to meat substitutes
- Graph 38: behaviours related to meat substitutes, 2023
- Graph 39: meat reduction and expectation that meat substitutes are healthier than meat-based alternative, by associating meat reduction with health benefits, 2023
- Graph 40: factors that would encourage buying of meat substitutes among those who expect meat substitutes to be healthier than their meat-based counterparts, 2023
- Graph 41: selected nutritional claims in new product launches in meat substitutes, 2019-23
- Graph 42: “Knowing more about the environmental impact of switching from meat to meat substitutes would encourage me to do so”, by meat substitutes usage and age, 2023
- Attitudes towards meat substitutes
- Graph 43: attitudes towards meat substitutes, 2023
- Graph 44: agreement that meat substitutes that don’t try to mimic meat (eg bean burgers) are more appealing than those that do, by meat substitutes usage, 2023
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Launch activity and innovation
- Graph 45: share of new launches in processed fish, meat & egg products, by subcategory, 2019-23
- Graph 46: share of new launches in the meat substitutes market, by branded versus own-label, 2019-23
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Graph 47: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on meat substitutes*, 2020-23
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Appendix
- Supplementary data: launch activity and innovation
- Graph 48: share of new launches in the meat substitutes market, by selected claims, 2019-23
- Supplementary data: advertising and marketing activity
- Market segmentation
- Market share
- Market forecast
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
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