According to a new survey commissioned by Good Food Institute Europe and conducted by OpinionWay, a majority of consumers in several key European countries have reduced their meat consumption in the past five years.
The survey found that 61% of those in Italy have reduced their meat consumption in recent years, compared to 59% in France, 58% in Spain and 50.5% in Germany. In addition, a significant percentage have stopped eating meat all together: 31% in Germany, 24% in Spain, 21% in Italy and 16% in France.
The survey also found that half of Italian and Spanish consumers eat plant-based meats at least once a month. This is 40% in Germany and 20% in France.
An even higher percent believe that “meat consumption must be reduced”, with 75% of those in Italy believing this, followed by 67% for Germany, 64% for Spain and 60% for France.
“It’s great to see plant-based meat become so strongly established in many people’s diets across Europe”, says Carlotte Lucas, who works for the Good Food Institute Europe. “Companies now need to capitalise on this interest and invest in developing products that can truly compete with conventional meat on taste and price to provide the sustainable options Europeans want.”
More information on this survey can be found by clicking here. The methodological notes can be found below:
Institute and period:
Online survey by the French opinion research institute OpinionWay as part of a comprehensive survey for France, Germany, Italy and Spain in February 2022.
Population and sample:
The sample sizes were 1,058 for France, 1,002 for Germany, 1,011 for Italy and 1,025 for Spain. Rounding-related sum deviations are possible in the presentation of results. All were over 18, selected to be representative of national populations in terms of gender, age, socio-economic status, and region.
Method:
Participants were interviewed using an online self-administered questionnaire on a computer assisted web interview system in February 2022. OpinionWay conducted the surveys using the procedures and rules of the ISO 20252 standard. The margin of uncertainty for the results is 1.4-3 points.
