Meat for barbecues is often heavily discounted while discounts on plants-based products are relatively rare, according to a study by WWF Switzerland, reported RTS.
Animal products benefitted from more frequent and higher discounts, said WWF.
Out of 150 products discounted in Switzerland between the end of April and mid-May 2023, 95% were animal products, which generate higher emissions, according to WWF. The survey covered promotional advertising published by Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner and Volg.
91% of the promoted products were meat (including fish) and a further 4% were cheese. Only 4% of promotions were related to plant-based products.
Of the 243 promoted products, 18 were fish, 201 were other meats, 8 were cheeses and only 16 products were plant-based.
Overall the average discount was 30%, while those for vegetable products were on average 22%.
It’s a problem because meat products are more damaging to the environment, climate and biodiversity than vegetables, Mariella Meyer from WWF told RTS. Meyer recognised that there is a strong association between the barbecue and meat, which is why consumers must be shown the alternatives.
One of the challenges to moving to more plant based eating is changing long held habits. Much of Europe is unaccustomed to cooking vegetable-based dishes – tasty plant-based food is often brought to life with a larger number of vegetables and spices than you will find in many European kitchens. And removing the meat from a traditional meat-centred dish often isn’t much of a meal. It’s typically short on flavour and sometimes nutritionally wanting.
Plant-based meat substitutes aimed at piggy backing existing meat-centred eating habits seem to have fallen flat after a promising start. The sales of companies producing plant-based meat look-a-likes such as Beyond Meat are shrinking after early excitement about their products. Why is not entirely clear.
Perhaps some meat eaters tried these products as a way to cut back on meat for environmental and health reasons, but were put off these highly processed vegetable products with long lists of ingredients1 after learning of the health issues often associated with processed foods. Price might also be an issue. Plant-based diets are generally significantly cheaper than meat-based ones. However, the prices of meat substitutes have tended to be higher that their meat equivalents – for example, at Migros, two organic beef burgers cost CHF 4.95 while two non-organic plant-based ones cost CHF 5.95. Neither were discounted.
Some combination of taste, high price and processed food health concerns may explain much of the wilting interest in meat substitutes.
And many of those who had already shifted away from meat may have found little desire to return to burgers and sausages, especially highly processed plant-based ones bereft of many of the health benefits associated with whole plant eating.
1Beyond Meat burgers have 23 ingredients, which include: water, pea protein, canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavours, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet juice, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, zinc sulfate, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin and calcium pantothenate.
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