Plant-based meat sales down in US as customers dislike taste, price: report

A new report released by the Good Food Institute (GFI) has found that sales of plant-based alternatives to real meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy in the United States declined in 2023.

Data showed that while those who bought plant-based substitutes in previous years continued to do so, companies failed to entice new customers.

According to GFI, unit sales were down 9 percent in 2023 while dollar sales fell by 2 percent. As a result, the plant-based food market in the US went from being worth $8.2 billion the year before to $8.1 billion. 

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.

The report found that six in ten American families bought at least one plant-based alternative in 2023, with 81 percent of that cohort being repeat customers.

Across the sector, "household penetration" rates fell, indicating that new customers are less interested in trying the products. Plant-based meat, for example, was able to penetrate 19 percent of households in 2022, but only 14 percent in 2023.
 

"Plant-based meat sales declined more sharply than plant-based food sales overall," editors Caroline Bushnell, Liz Specht, and Jessica Almy wrote, "and surveys of lapsed consumers showed that plant-based meat products are largely not meeting consumer expectations, particularly in regard to taste, texture, and price."

They suggested that the decline could be attributed, at least in part, to "funding constraints, scaling complexities, and a rise in misinformation and disinformation."

Nonetheless, they cited data showing 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."

As the Wall Street Journal reports, major companies in the sector such as Beyond Meat Inc have seen a rapid decline in value since the pandemic. In 2021, $BYND was $186.83 per share, however as of Monday the stock was trading at just $6.72.