During "Veganuary" in January, many people will be eating more vegetables and cereal products instead of animal products. A good resolution when the scales start to tip after the festive feast? Or is there more to it than that?
The statistics speak for themselves: according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, one in five newly launched products is vegan. This group includes meat substitutes as well as alternatives to dairy products.
Meat substitutes on the rise
The figures from manufacturing companies in Germany confirm the trend. 17 per cent more meat substitute products than in the previous year - this is the increase they announced for 2021. Compared to 2019, there was even a 62.2 per cent increase in production.
Increased production of meat substitute products
Seitan schnitzel and veggie burgers are booming. Will they push steak and meatballs off the menu at the same time? That remains to be seen. According to the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), German meat consumption has fallen to a record low: 55 kilograms of meat per person were consumed on average in 2021. This is a decrease of 12 per cent compared to 2011, when the figure was 62.8 kilograms per capita. This means that meat consumption has fallen to its lowest level since calculations began (1989).
Plant milk increasingly popular
However, milk alternatives are becoming even more popular than meat substitutes. Customers are increasingly turning to plant-based milk substitutes made from oats, soya or rice. In addition to ethical and ecological reasons, the lactose intolerance of many people is likely to be a decisive factor. Around 296 million litres of milk substitute drinks were imported in 2021 to meet the growing demand, an increase of 42% on the previous year.
The main supplier of plant-based drinks is Belgium (35.4%); other important sourcing countries are Sweden (23.4%), Italy (13.3%), Austria (10.8%) and France (10.3%).
In 2021, 296.1 million litres of plant-based drinks worth 199.3 million euros were imported into Germany. This was 42.0% more than in the previous year (208.5 million litres). Imports more than tripled compared to 2017. Back then, 89.5 million litres were imported.
Import of plant milk to Germany
Accordingly, the production of drinking milk of animal origin in Germany has also fallen: according to the Federal Statistical Office, only 7.6 billion litres of drinking milk were produced for sale in 2021 - the lowest figure since 2002. Compared to the previous year, production fell by 7.1%. in 2020, it was just under 8.2 billion litres.
More vegan products in the stores
The production and thus consumption of vegan products is therefore steadily increasing, and as a result, more and more companies are entering the vegan business: in 2019, 34 German companies still relied on tofu & co.
Karen Niebiossa
More produced food takes up more space on the shelves - Karen Niebiossa also realises this. She is responsible for the "Chilled vegan food" range at REWE. This includes substitutes for meat, sausage, fish and cheese that require refrigeration, as well as salads, vegan pasta, spaetzle and Schupfnudeln. This product group now includes around 500 items. "From 2018 to today, sales have almost quadrupled," reports the Senior Category Buyer Convenience. "We expanded the space for vegetarian and vegan products with the implementation of the product range revision in September 2022. Depending on how revenue continues to develop, we may need to review this again in the future."
Kilian Beschorn
More shelf metres will also be made available for vegan products at PENNY. "We will continue to gradually expand the Food for Future range in 2023," reports Kilian Beschorn, Head of Fresh Produce at PENNY. "In general, we are seeing a steady increase in demand for vegan alternatives. Experience shows that interest is particularly high during the Veganuary period."
Vegan top sellers
What ends up on plates and sandwiches instead? The favourite products of the vegan-oriented shoppers at REWE are the vegan ham and sausage products from Rügenwalder; the customers at PENNY prefer oat drinks as well as vegan Lyoner cold cuts and vegan meat and egg salad. Karen Niebiossa is certain that it is not only vegans who reach for the animal-free products. "We couldn't generate the revenue with vegetarians and vegans alone," says Karen Niebiossa. "Most of our customers are flexitarians."
The top sellers
Both German and English comments appear here.
It's a shame that even in Veganuary there are hardly any full vegan dishes in our casino. 3-4 meat or fish dishes per day, the rest is unfortunately mostly "only" vegetarian.
I still think that you shouldn't necessarily eat every "meat substitute" without hesitation, because these products are also prepared industrially. And the higher the degree of industrial production, the more additives these products contain. You should simply prepare more fruit and vegetables yourself if you want to avoid meat in a healthy way.