Forty-two percent of consumers worldwide believe that most people will likely be eating plant-based foods instead of meat in the next ten years, according to a new global consumer research study conducted by GlobeScan, a global insights and advisory consultancy, and EAT, the science-based non-profit organization for the transformation of the global food system.
The report on healthy, sustainable, and equitable food also revealed that more than half of people (51%) say they feel less secure about the food supply in light of Covid-19, conflicts, and climate change. There is significant variation in how this is felt across different countries and regions, with Latin America reporting some of the highest levels of food insecurity in Brazil (73%), Colombia (72%), and Peru (69%), along with Kenya (77%) and Italy (64%). Respondents from India (19%), Saudi Arabia (33%), and Egypt (35%), on the other hand, show the least concern.
The findings presented in the second edition of the Grains of Truth series analyze the opinions of nearly 30,000 consumers in 31 markets around the world regarding healthy, sustainable, and equitable food.
Concerns about the food supply extend to fears of food shortages, with 60% of respondents citing this as a very serious issue. There is considerable variation in levels of concern among countries, with China (16%), Hong Kong (24%), and South Korea (28%) being the least worried, while more than eight in ten in Colombia, Peru, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa say they are concerned about food shortages. The rising cost of living is also intertwined with the food supply, as 92% of the public say that the price of their regular grocery shopping has increased in the last three months.
Against a backdrop of rising food insecurity and soaring prices, a promising 60% of consumers say they eat healthy foods most or all of the time, with an increasing number of people adopting vegetarian or vegan diets ‒ more than one in five (22%) say they eat plant-based or vegan foods, up from 17% in 2019. Interest in trying plant-based diets is also growing across all age groups; 40% of Generation Z, 43% of Millennials, 37% of Generation X, and 28% of Baby Boomers say they are very interested in trying this way of eating.
There are significant gaps in some countries between those interested in switching to a plant-based diet and those who are already doing so. The largest gaps are in Vietnam (38 percentage points), Thailand (37 percentage points), and Brazil (22 percentage points).
Nearly nine in ten consumers (89%) say that buying environmentally healthy and responsible foods is important to them. Two-thirds (64%) say they are willing to pay more for them, an indication of the value consumers place on these products even in the face of rising living costs.
Speaking about the research, Dr. Gunhild Stordalen, founder and executive chair of EAT, said:
“The fact that so many people around the world are becoming more interested in eating healthy and sustainable foods is an encouraging sign. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that 42% of people globally believed that plant-based foods would replace meat in a decade. But the public is beginning to understand the escalating climate and nature crises and the dangers they bring to their everyday lives, as they intertwine with the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the accelerating cost of living crisis. While consumers understand the issues, it is up to everyone else in the food system to act now to help them – access and affordability will play a critical role, as last year’s first edition of this report showed.”