Could blended meat products be the future? | WARC | The Feed

Could blended meat products be the future?

Plant-based foods are currently growing in popularity but blended meat products, containing a combination of meat and vegetables, may be a bigger long-term market – if marketers can successfully address the issues surrounding them.

Why it matters

No-one expects consumers to completely switch from meat to non-meat options. Hybrid alternatives could be a healthier option that is still familiar to consumers while removing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Just Food. They could also open a route to market for meat produced by cellular agriculture.

The marketing issues

• The ‘flexitarian’ consumer is an obvious target audience but brands will need to understand their reaction to such things as convenience, taste and satiety (satisfaction) and tailor their messaging accordingly. 
• Existing marketing signals around meat and plants are very different and it may be difficult to reconcile these.
• With manufacturers focused on plant-based products, there is an understandable reluctance to fragment a nascent category and risk consumer confusion.
• How products are described will be crucial; language that suggests modification and processing should be avoided.

Final thought 

“There is a significant difference in a plant-based analogue that relies on hyper-processing to achieve a meat-like eating experience and a burger that relies on regeneratively-farmed meat combined with real veggies” – Melissa Abbott, vice president, Hartman Retainer Services.

Sourced from Just Food