In July 2021, we surveyed 569 Americans about their attitudes towards alternative foods. The survey focused on alternative meat, alternative milk, and dairy products made from alternative milk.
Respondents were asked about their propensity to purchase and consume alternative foods as well as their motivations for deciding to purchase or not purchase alternative foods.
Key Takeaways
- Most Americans have tried alternative foods at least once, but the fraction that purchase alternative foods regularly (defined as at least once per month) is significantly smaller.
- Alternative milk was the most popular category of alternative food that we surveyed both in terms of the percentage of respondents that had tried it and the percentage that purchase it regularly.
- Interestingly, while more respondents had tried alternative meat than dairy products made from alternative milk, more respondents regularly purchase alternative dairy products than alternative meat. This speaks to the segment of consumers that try alternative meat out of curiosity, but don’t convert into regular purchasers.
- The main motivators for consumers to purchase alternative products were for health purposes, concerns about the environment, and concerns about animal welfare.
- Depending on the category (alternative milk, alternative meat, alternative dairy products) there were 20-30% of respondents who appear to be unlikely to make a purchase in the foreseeable future.
- The two most common reasons given for a consumer to be unlikely to make a purchase in the foreseeable future were a dislike of the taste or texture of alternative products or the belief that alternative products are too expensive.
- Consumers that regularly purchase alternative foods tend to skew younger, higher income and are most likely to live in the Northeast or the West Coast
This post first appeared on September 7 on the Global X ETF blog.
Photo Credit: Malcolm Carlaw via Flickr Creative Commons
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