A recent study by researchers from the Credence Institute in Stellenbosch found that 67% of respondents were highly likely to try plant-based meat and 59% were highly likely to buy it. Picture: Markus Winkler/Pixabay
South Africa is a meat-loving nation, consuming around 58kg of meat per year on average, four times higher than the continental African average of 13.1kg per person.
As much as we love our meat, industrial animal agriculture is destroying the planet. There is no argument there.
Thanks to the environmental damage caused by animal agriculture, there has been an immense increase in meat alternatives such as soy, seitan, and even tofu-based “meats”.
A recent study by researchers from the Credence Institute in Stellenbosch found that 67% of respondents were highly likely to try plant-based meat and 59% were highly likely to buy it.
For lab-grown, cultivated meat, 60% of respondents were highly likely to try it and 53% were highly likely to purchase it. The highest acceptance was among the younger generations, with 60% of born-frees, 62% of millennials, and 53% of Gen X likely to purchase plant-based meat, and 55% of born-frees, 55% of millennials, and 46% of Gen X highly likely to buy cultivated meat.
The South African Consumer Adoption of Plant-Based and Cultivated Meat: A Segmentation Study was commissioned to assess the likelihood of consumer adoption of plant-based and cultivated meat in South Africa as a pathway to a healthy, sustainable, and equitable food supply.
Researchers recruited a large group of South Africans representative across age (18–61), gender, race, and income to participate in an online survey.
Participants responded to a range of measures, including adoption indicators, estimated yearly intake, motivators for purchasing, desired product characteristics, preferred species, and sociodemographics.
The study found that among the general South African population, future meat intake was estimated to be split equally among the three meat categories, conventional, cultivated and plant-based.
The study findings suggest that plant-based and cultivated meat could be viable market-based options for improving the food system in South Africa, as consumers across all segments of society, and especially among the younger population, indicated broad acceptance.
Researchers explained that meat is a resource-intensive protein source and that increased demand for meat in developing countries is likely to place even more strain on an already stretched food system.
In South Africa, meat consumption is already high, ranking 9th highest globally in per capita beef consumption and 11th highest in per capita poultry consumption. South Africa has an adult obesity rate of 28% and a high burden of heart disease, so implementing food system solutions that aim to combat these diseases should be a public health priority.
These concurrent problems of high food insecurity and rising diet-related diseases associated with high meat consumption make South Africa an ideal developing country for exploring market pathways to a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable protein supply.
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