The future is meatless
Manifest brand communications agency commissioned us to collaborate on an insights project for their client, Future Farms. As the biggest producer of plant-based burgers in Brazil, the brief was to position Future Farms in the conversation on emerging food trends in the UK.
We identified new horizon food trends and behaviours such as biohacking, holistic immunity and next-gen protein sources, which Manifest used in a UK-wide questionnaire to explore consumer’s responses and level of engagement. The agency was keen to uncover newsworthy findings rooted in our food trends knowledge, which could form part of Future Farms communications.
The questionnaire revealed that more respondents considered themselves as flexitarian (39%) than meat-eaters (33%). This was an exciting discovery for the brand as combined with the 25% of vegetarian and vegan respondents, it demonstrated a huge shift in eating habits. Interestingly, consumers are defining themselves beyond traditional categories of meat vs vegan — instead, they want to eat it all.
We know that people are generally eating less meat, which was confirmed by this survey: 52% of respondents said that, moving forward, they planned to eat more plant-based meals, and 33% of meat-eaters said they’d been eating less meat since the pandemic began. Other findings included:
The next generation is primed for meatless meat. About 80% of 18-34s said they plan to eat more plant-based products going forward. This is the future consumer who will be ageing as meat security issues continue.
Meat could be taboo in the future. Nearly 20% said they believed meat will only be eaten on the odd occasion in the future.
Lunch is the next big occasion for meatless meat. Meat-free Mondays and midweek meals are already a popular, but 1 in 4 said they also want meatless options for lunch. Bye bye ham sandwich.
The climatarian diet is hitting the mainstream. 33% said they’d been reducing their meat consumption to be more eco-friendly.
The research also found that 29% of meat-eating adults said they would snub veggies and vegans when having a BBQ, and one in five would make them bring their own food. As the nation emerges from lockdown, now (more than ever) people want to feel united and connected through sharing food. Meatless meat like Future Farms is an important innovation in this area, as it’s not only more sustainable and sometimes healthier than meat, but it cooks and tastes similar to meat. So no-one need to be left off the next invite to the BBQ.
See one example of press coverage in the Bristol Post.
If you would like to work with us regarding food and drink industry expert coverage for press or marketing, then please get in touch.
Meatless mince from Future Farms in next-gen Bolognese
