Report finds sales of plant-based alternatives to real food DECLINED in 2023

05/06/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

According to a new report, U.S. sales of plant-based alternatives to real food have declined in 2023.

The non-profit Good Food Institute (GFI) highlighted this finding in its 2023 State of the Industry Report. The institute “works alongside scientists, businesses and policymakers to make alternative proteins as delicious, affordable and accessible as conventional meat.” But based on its report, the GFI is seemingly failing to achieve its stated goal.

It found that six in 10 American families bought at least one plant-based alternative product in 2023. Eighty-one percent of that cohort were repeat customers, proving that those who bought plant-based substitutes in previous years continued to do so.

Despite this, plant-based meat companies failed to entice new customers. “Household penetration” rates fell across the sector, indicating that new customers are less interested in trying plant-based proteins. Plant-based meat, for example, was only able to penetrate 14 percent of households in 2023 – five points lower than the 19 percent of households penetrated in 2022.

According to GFI, unit sales were down nine percent in 2023. Meanwhile, dollar sales fell by two percent in the same year. This ultimately translated to a loss of value for the American plant-based food market, dropping from $8.2 billion in 2022 to $8.1 billion in 2023.

“Plant-based meat sales declined more sharply than plant-based food sales overall, and surveys of lapsed customers showed that plant-based meat products are largely not meeting consumer expectations – particularly regarding taste, texture and price,” wrote the report’s editors Caroline Bushnell, Liz Specht and Jessica Almy.

“While plant-based creamers, protein powders, liquids, baked goods, desserts and milk saw slight increases in sales, the consumption of faux meat and seafood went down for the second year in a row.”

According to the three editors, the decline of plant-based food sales could be attributed, at least in part, to “funding constraints, scaling complexities and a rise in mis- and disinformation.” They nevertheless cited data claiming that American consumers would be “more willing to eat plant-based meat if it tasted better, became more affordable, and overall provided a clear value.”

Fake meat market continues its decline

Despite the GFI report’s claim that more Americans are willing to eat plant-based food, the non-profit appears to be engaged in wishful thinking. People are voting with their wallets when it comes to fake meat, ignoring such products in groceries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, major companies in the fake meat sector such as Beyond Meat have seen a rapid decline in value since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Shares of the Los Angeles-based Beyond Meat once sold at $186.83 per share in 2021. But as of April 29, 2024, its stock was only trading at $6.72. (Related: Fake meat firms collapsing due to lower sales, anti-woke backlash.)

This sentiment against fake meat has been going on for some time – and for good reasons. According to Herculean Strength, “the supposedly healthier plant-based alternatives … [fail] to provide even a fraction of the nutritional value of [real] meat.” Worse, the fake versions “are loaded with phytoestrogens and metabolically toxic vegetable oils.”

“Much of the anti-meat agenda isn’t presenting its case in good faith. Correspondingly, meat alternatives such as soy, 3D printed steaks and bugs are furiously promoted to serve a greater agenda.”

Back in May 2021, the non-profit No Meat May polled 1,000 Australians about their attitudes toward meat. It found that 73 percent of male respondents – almost three-fourths – would rather shave off 10 years from their lives than give up meat.

Meanwhile, another study from the same period found that consumers were not switching to plant-based alternatives without massive social pressure. Herculean Strength noted that the powers that be are building up this pressure on fake meat skeptics, remarking that “the media has barraged readers with guilt-tripping articles on why meat should be eliminated.”

Check out FakeMeat.news for more stories about plant-based meats and other products being pushed to replace real food.

Watch Jefferey Jaxen and Del Bigtree discussing the free fall of the fake meat industry as more and more Americans refuse to patronize it.

This video is from The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com.