This was a rare inflection point. With Impossible and Beyond Meat making splashy debuts in restaurants and the grocery store meat case, retailers and consumers were clamoring for the next big thing.
But that early momentum didn't last. Here in the U.S., few of the new brands that flooded the market built sustainable traction. What many of us thought was a multi-year trend proved to be a short-lived fad.
Why did this happen? I attribute the failure to build repeat customers to five main drivers:
Back in 2019, research showed that the #1 consumer driver was health: people wanted genuinely healthier alternatives for their favorite meals.
However, the first wave of products often fell short. To achieve that "meat-like" feel, formulators often used ingredients like coconut oil (which is high in saturated fat) and relatively high levels of sodium to enhance flavor. Consumers looking for a truly healthier choice were immediately turned off by the nutrition labels.
Consumers open to trying plant-based meat were primarily motivated by three intrinsic factors: health, greater availability, and the desire for variety at the center of the plate.
Yet, many new brands focused their marketing entirely on extrinsic benefits like sustainability, being animal-free, or veganism. These values-based messages were far less motivating to the average consumer (sometimes referred to as a "flexitarian") who was just experimenting. They failed to see these products as being for them.
The products simply didn't perform like meat in the kitchen.
Simple cues, like how a beef patty changes color when cooked, were often missing. Consumers who expected their "pink" plant-based burger to cook like a beef patty frequently overcooked it, resulting in a dry, lackluster eating experience. A poor first experience is the fastest way to lose a repeat customer.
Challenger brands, eager to make a mark, often positioned themselves by casting the traditional meat industry as the villain.
This strategy not only “poked the bear” of animal agriculture but, more importantly, alienated the target consumer. The average buyer wanted to continue purchasing their favorite meat products while simply experimenting with plant-based options—they didn't want a moral lecture on their personal food choices.
5. Rising Consumer Prices
As the pandemic hit and consumer food prices began to rise due to several factors, many consumers simply didn't see the value in buying plant-based alternatives over traditional meat options.
In my next post, I'll delve into what our latest FoodTech study tells us about new trends and the consumer motivations driving plant-based foods today.