TRENOS SiGINT: Plant-Based Meat Has a Product Problem, Not Just a Marketing Problem - Study

SIGNAL

New Adelaide University research points to a fundamental problem for plant-based meat: among meat eaters, perceived risk and value matter more than the advertising used to sell the product.

Consumers largely understand what plant-based meat is and its environmental, animal welfare and potential health propositions. The challenge is increasingly whether the product delivers sufficiently on taste, quality, familiarity and price.

That moves the industry conversation from “How do we persuade consumers?” towards “What compromises are consumers being asked to make — and how do we remove them?”

HUMAN FACTOR

Food purchasing is intensely experiential. Taste, price, familiarity, family acceptance and habit are tested every time somebody eats.

For meat eaters considering a plant-based alternative, several risks can therefore converge: paying more, being disappointed by taste or texture, uncertainty about ingredients, and wondering whether others in the household will eat it.

The Adelaide study found changing the advertising message did little to overcome these established perceptions. Among younger consumers, emotional messaging could actually lower perceptions of quality, while rational messaging performed better among vegetarians.

The implication: different consumers require different propositions — but the product itself still has to deliver.

METRICS SNAPSHOT

What's Driving Change?

Indicator	Market Outlook
Consumer Study	Close to 1,000 Australian adults tested across meat-eating and vegetarian consumer groups.
Australian Market	Plant-based meat sales reached approximately A$272.5m in FY2023, demonstrating established category scale.
Price Gap	Plant-based meat carried an average ~33% premium over conventional equivalents in Australian industry data.
Consumer Barrier	Perceived risk and poor value exert greater influence on meat eaters than emotional versus rational advertising.
Younger Consumers	Emotional advertising can reduce acceptance when it lowers perceptions of product quality.
Product Priority	Taste, texture, quality and value for money remain central to wider mainstream acceptance.
Technology Opportunity	Fermentation, improved fats, flavour systems and protein functionality offer pathways towards better sensory parity and performance.

LONG PLAY - Plant-Based Meat Has a Product Problem, Not Just a Marketing Problem - Study

Plant-based meat is moving from category creation to category proof.

The first generation demonstrated that consumers would try meat alternatives. The next must demonstrate that mainstream consumers will buy them repeatedly without feeling they are compromising.

That shifts competitive advantage towards sensory performance, nutritional credibility, ingredient simplicity and cost.

It also creates opportunity for precision and biomass fermentation, improved fats, protein fractionation and potentially hybrid products. These technologies can target precisely the attributes consumers notice - juiciness, savouriness, texture, aroma and aftertaste.

The next major winners in plant-based meat may therefore not be consumer brands at all. They could be the ingredient and biotechnology companies enabling better products behind them. Plant-based meat doesn't need consumers to lower their expectations. It needs the technology to meet them.

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