Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Get in touch with us nowPer capita consumption of meat substitutes in the European Union (EU-27) was estimated at 0.3 kilograms in 2024. It is forecast to increase to 0.4 kilograms per person by 2028.
Meat substitutes refer to non-animal food products, eaten as a replacement for meat. Such products often aim to look, taste, smell, and feel similar to a specific type of meat. In terms of retail sales, the three most commonly sold types of meat substitutes in Western Europe are grain-based, soy-based, and vegetable or plant-based proteins. Grain-based meat substitutes are the largest segment of the market, with a retail sales value of nearly 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, followed by soy-based meat substitutes, with sales of almost 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. Within the next six years, forecasts of the market for meat substitutes in Europe project soy-based meat substitutes, such as tofu or tempeh, to have annual growth rates of more than ten percent.
Since 2018, there has been continuous growth in the per capita sales volume of meat substitutes in Germany. This trend is expected to continue in the following years. By 2028, the per capita sales volume is forecast to have increased by more than sevenfold to about 1.06 kg, as compared to 0.14 kg in 2018. Notable, the same period has experienced a decrease in the per capita consumption of meat in Germany, for both human consumption as well as for non-human consumption, such as animal feed, industrial use, and loss. Nonetheless, Germans still consume around 52 kilograms of meat per person annually. The most commonly consumed type of meat among Germans is pork, which makes up more than half of the total consumption.
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