Online sales of plant-based meat alternatives are on the rise
In the first nine months of 2021, Utkonos Online sold about 10 tons of plant-based MEAT alternatives. Since the beginning of the year, sales in this category have grown by 214% in quantitative terms, the company estimated. Its analysts noted that the peak growth in the popularity of such products falls on the Orthodox Lent and Christmas Lent. So, this year, during these periods, sales of vegetable "meat" increased by 130% relative to the base month, in 2020 - by 119%. In general, the “vegan” direction of goods and products in Utkonos Online grew by 76% in 2020.
A year ago, the Utkonos assortment included 30 types of vegetable meat substitutes, now there are more than 100 meat and fish alternatives. This is the second most popular category after plant-based "dairy" products among the vegan direction, the company estimates. At the same time, its analysts note an increase in interest in plant-based substitutes for animal products, not only from vegans and vegetarians, but also from those who adhere to the principles of a healthy diet.
On the eve of the media reported that the service for ordering food and household goods "Yandex.Lavka" began the delivery of ready-made dishes from vegetable "meat" from the domestic manufacturer Greenwise, however, so far only in Moscow. The menu includes roll sandwiches, twisters, black rolls, bagels, hamburgers and burritos. All other components of the dishes also do not contain products of animal origin. The cheapest dish in this category (as of November 3) is Black-roll with vegetable fillet with chicken flavor and Teriyaki sauce. A portion of 140 g costs 189 rubles. The most expensive - 259 rubles. - BBQ hamburger with vegetable patty (190 g) and bagel with vegetable patty and herb sour cream flavored sauce (175 g). For comparison, a traditional chicken roll (200 g) in Yandex.Lavka costs 219 rubles, a cheeseburger with beef cutlet (250 g) costs 289 rubles.
According to a study by the Efko group (which also produces plant-based “meat” under the Hi!) brand and the American cuisine restaurant chain TGI FRIDAYS, a quarter of respondents are ready to completely replace traditional meat with plant-based analogues, provided that such products are available in a convenience store, and if the price will not exceed the cost of ordinary meat. According to Sergey Ivanov, CEO of Efko, co-founder of Healthy Innovation, the demand for alternative products is growing as their availability increases. If initially plant-based “meat” was a niche product for vegetarians and experimenters, now it can be bought in almost all major retail chains and hundreds of cafes across the country. In addition, consumers are becoming more and more aware of the production technology and understand that this is not an artificial product.
DIRECTOR of the Department of Agro-Industrial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Armen Harutyunyan said that now the high price of vegetable "meat" is associated with small volumes of production and sales, but as they increase, transaction and other costs will decrease, and products will become more accessible to all segments of the population. But this does not mean that traditional meat will become an elite product, he stressed. “No one is talking about the need to completely replace animal proteins with vegetable ones. The latter can help balance diets, become an addition to the usual diet,” Harutyunyan commented. “According to global statistics, the production and consumption of traditional meat is increasing in the world, but this does not prevent the growth in the consumption of plant-based alternatives.”
In mid-October, during the round table “The Future of Alternative Plant Products in the Eurasian Space”, organized by the EEC, its participants came to the conclusion that RUSSIA has great potential both for developing the production of plant analogues of livestock products for the domestic market and for their EXPORT. The increase in the world's population, the development of technology, the new challenges associated with climate change, as well as the trend towards a healthy lifestyle and responsible consumption will increase the consumption of plant-based alternatives.