What Carnivores Will (and Won't) Do for the Planet

The meat alternative market has grown tremendously worldwide with plant-based options soaring to $1.2 billion in the United States alone last year.

The meat-alternative market is experiencing massive growth, though the industry is going to have to keep attracting consumers to their products if growth is going to continue. According to Nielsen’s Homescan, 98 percent of meat alternative buyers in the U.S. also purchased meat within the last month, widening the competition for meat alternatives.

Nielsen found that consumers would take several measures to reduce or modify their meat consumption to help the environment, giving meat alternatives some edge over its meaty competitors. About six in ten consumers in the U.S. said they would reduce meat consumption for environmental reasons, while only about a fifth said they would become a vegetarian or vegan for environmental reasons. Just under a tenth of respondents did not rule out bugs from their diets, with 8 percent saying they would replace meat-based protein with bug/insect-based protein alternatives.