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Meat substitutes in the refrigerated section: Every fourth person eats alternative meat once a week
Photo: Joerg Boethling / IMAGO
The market for vegetarian or vegan alternatives to meat is growing.
In 2021, companies in Germany produced almost 98,000 tons and thus almost 17 percent more meat substitutes than in the previous year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
Compared to 2019, production increased by more than 62 percent.
The value of these products increased last year by 22.2 percent to 458.2 million euros.
At the same time, the number of companies producing in Germany increased from 34 to 44.
Meat consumption is falling sharply
"Despite this increase, the value of meat substitutes is relatively low compared to meat products," the statisticians write.
In 2021, the value of meat and meat products produced in Germany was 35.6 billion euros - around 80 times the value of the substitute products.
However, since 2019 - for the second year in a row - there has been a decline in the value of meat products: in 2021 the minus was 7.8 percent.
In Germany, less and less meat has recently been consumed: according to the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, per capita consumption was 55 kilograms last year.
That was a 12 percent decrease from 2011 and the lowest since records began in 1989.
This is probably one of the reasons why farmers' president Joachim Rukwied recently described the trend towards vegan nutrition as an opportunity.
"It's us farmers who grow the raw materials for the substitute products," he recently told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung." This applies, for example, to legumes such as chickpeas, which are then processed into meat substitutes.
According to a survey by the consulting firm Kearney, a quarter of people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland eat alternative meat at least once a week.
Apr/Reuters
