Mapping the plant-based revolution in Germany
Next to being famous for Schnitzels and sausages, Germany is also becoming internationally known for its vegetarian and vegan food. Over 35 million Germans stick to diets that involves abstaining from eating meat to some degree, causing omnivores to becoming a minority. The growing group of meat-less consumers has different needs than traditional vegans and vegetarians: in stead of meat-replacers like Seitan and Soy they want meat-like looking products (like hamburgers, sausages, chicken and minced beef) that will be just as tasty to them. As a results the German market for plant-based meat has grown at an average of over 15% per year over the last few years. It is expected that continuing this growth, the market will hit €450 million in 2025.
Is the production able to meet the growing demand? We took a look at the companies that provide plant-based meat alternatives in Germany. It’s an interesting mix of traditional, local companies, start-ups, retailers and international FMCG brands. With all these players on board, the plant-based meat market has outgrown its niche status. Although consumers have quite some meat-less products at their disposal to choose from, it looks as though these are not enough to satisfy their hunger, which leaves room for new market entrants.
Vegan and vegetarian in Germany
A lot of the popularity of meatless diets can be explained as part of the worldwide trend, with consumers having more eye for animal welfare and environmental issues. But vegetarianism and vegans aren’t new to the country at all. In fact they have their roots in the so-called Lebensreform movement in the late 19th century, that propagated a back-to-nature lifestyle, emphasising on things like health food/raw food/organic food, vegetarianism and alternative medicine. That’s probably the reason that vegetarianism is more popular here than in other European countries. So-called omnivores are becoming a minority in Germany (less than 50% of Germans still identifies as such), while in France still being a majority of consumers.
Dietary identities in France and Germany (n=2000). Source: European Markets for Cultured Meat: A Comparison of Germany and France. Foods (2020)
Flexitarians driving the trend
Very interesting is the number of consumers that considers themselves flexitarian (having a plant-based diet, with the occasional inclusion of meat). According to a survey by European researchers, more than 30% of German consumers see themselves as flexitarian, which is a group of about 25 million consumers. Together with vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians (people who don’t eat meat, but do eat fish), a group of at least 35 million Germans can be identified as on some form of meatless diet .Next to animal welfare, their main reason not to eat meat is their care for the environment. The research states that for the first time, omnivores aren’t a majority anymore.
Plant-based meat demand and supply
Restaurants
The number of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Berlin (2008-2019), Source: Happy Cow
As a result of Germans’ changed dietary preferences, the number of vegan and vegetarian restaurants increased steeply over the last few years: according to Happy Cow, there are currently over 900 vegetarian restaurants in Germany and at least 300 Vegan restaurants. Leading the Vegan revolution, is with no doubt the German capital: In today’s Berlin, food is receiving unprecedented attention, bringing together tradition and innovation, humble and fine dining. The city is known as a fast-growing startup hub, attracting young professionals from all over the world. Each year, around 50 thousand new inhabitants are shaping its diverse and innovative food landscape. About a quarter of the countries’ vegan and at least 15% vegetarian restaurants can be found here.
Flexitarians pushing the demand for more and different products
The volume and prognosis of the German meat substitute market (€ millions) 2012-2025), Sources: Umweltbundesamt, (2019) & calculations by Future Grocery Shopping (2020)
As an alternative for animal proteins, vegans and vegetarians have been using products like Soy, Seitan, lentils and chickpeas to supplement their dishes for decades now. This however will not do anymore for these consumers: the growing group of flexitarian consumers is especially hungry for plant-based products that look and taste like meat (or as close to it as possible). As a result, many new companies entered the market offering alternatives to burgers, chicken, sausages and fish. When the Beyond Meat Burger was first introduced in Germany in 2019, it took just a few hours before they were fully sold out in Lidl’s 3,200 German stores. This market is growing and its growing fast: Markets and Markets’ latest report estimates that the global market for plant-based meat alternatives was worth €3.6 billion in 2020 and will grow to €6.9 billion by 2025, showing growth of 93 percent. In Germany, consumers spent about €220 millions on plant-based products in 2020. The average yearly growth rate of this market was over 15% in the last few years. We calculated that continuing growing at that pace, the German plant based meat market may hit €450 millions by 2025.
Plant based products in Germany
We took a look at the choices German consumers currently have as alternative for meat. The labels listed beneath provide meat-like products made from of plants (for example burgers, sausages, chicken, fish of cold cuts). We did not include all the labels offering Tofu products, just the ones that make them to burgers or other meat-like products.
Plant based meat landscape Germany. Labels available in 2021, split up by company type . (Click to receive a free copy )
We divided the suppliers into 4 segments:
Local and Traditional suppliers
The first one are local German suppliers: Some of them have been producing plant-based food for decades already. Taifun, for example, started selling Soy products in the mid eighties and grew out to be a business employing over 200 people today. Their Taifun tofu and Tukan vegan label can be found in leading retail stores like Rewe and organic retailers like Alnatura. Other companies come from a background in the meat processing industry. Rügenwalder Mühle, is a meat processing company founded in the 19th century that has been famous in Germany for ages for its‘ Teewurst’. Their products can be found at almost all German retailers. They started selling vegetarian and vegan products in 2014 and it really worked out for them: after experiencing a continuous upswing in the vegetarian and vegan product categories since 2018, they were able to report another 50% increase in sales of meat-free products in 2020. Last summer they even sold more meat-free than traditional products.
Next to companies like these, many smaller companies can be found in organic and vegan (online) stores across Germany, with labels Gut Wudelstein and Lord of Tofu. The plant-based meat products by local suppliers are usually made from Tofu or Wheat. Although not based in Germany, some Swiss and Austrian companies have similar traits and are therefore clustered within the same group in our overview.
Pure players and Independent companies
Next to the more traditional/ local players, we identified some new and innovative companies active within the German market. Among them, Germany-based start-ups like Terra Vegane (backed up by Retailer Aldi) and Planted. Foreign pure players, like Beyond meat (burgers and sausages) Noble Jerky (well ..Jerky) and Vivera. Companies within this segment mostly focus on a single product or product line and haven’t (yet) been acquired by the big FMCG players. Other than local and traditional companies, they produce complex products adapted to today’s consumers’ taste. Next to tofu and wheat, their products contain mais, peas, vegetables, Jackfruit, seeds, beans or Lupin to replace meat.
International FMCG companies
International FMCG companies have noticed the vegan revolution taking place. By producing their own meat-like products or by acquiring successful start-ups they try get a piece of the pie. Among them Unilever (The Vegetarian Butcher) Nestle (Garden Gourmet) and Nomad Foods (Iglo Green cuisine). Livekindly - formerly known as Food United, a subsidiary of Swiss investment company Blue Horizon - owns both the Germany based Likemeat company and South -Africa based Fry Family foods.
Retailer brands
An important development - indicating the popularity of plant based - is the fact that German retail stores (including discounters) have started developing their own vegan products and labels. As a reaction to the Beyond Burger’s success, Lidl introduced the ‘Next level’ burger in Germany. Other supermarket labels that offer plant-based food, include My Best Veggie (also Lidl) Mein Veggi Tag (Aldi) No meat.Just Vegan (Edeka) and K-take it veggie (Kaufland). Next to supermarket chains, it is common for consumers to buy groceries in drugstores as well: well-known drugstore labels include: DMbio (by DM) and Enerbio (by Rossmann). Online vegan supermarket chain Veganz and leading organic store Alnatura developed their own labels.
Opportunities for new market entrants
As the demand for plant based food is skyrocketing, new and existing companies have been able to grow by filling in the needs of a newly grown target group. Veganz, a leading vegan supermarket chain in Germany, recently surveyed consumers in Germany and came to the conclusion that consumers need more products within the vegan range. It looks as though there’s still room for new entrants considering the above and the expected market growth within this category. It’s clear that the vegan train hasn’t come to an stop yet and that it might offer opportunities for new market entrants. But what products to offer? Will there still be room for more plant based burgers, sausages and minced beef, or will consumers be needing new to develop products?
Future research
In the months to come we will dive deeper into the subject and will conduct research on German consumers’ preferences within the plant-based market. Subscribe to our plant-based newsletter and get informed first.
Sources used:
Bryant, C., van Nek, L., & Rolland, C. M. (2020). European Markets for Cultured Meat: A Comparison of Germany and France. Foods, 9, 1–10. https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/9/1152
Market&Markets. (2020, December 8). Plant-based Meat Market worth $8.3 billion by 2025 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets. PRnewswire.Com. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plant-based-meat-market-worth-8-3-billion-by-2025--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-301188146.html
Mensink, G. B. M., Lage Barbosa, C., & Brettschneider, A. (2016). Prevalence of persons following a vegetarian diet in Germany. Journal of Health Monitoring, 1(2), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.17886/RKI-GBE-2016-039
Sapaico, R. (2020, February 29). The Growth of Vegan Restaurants in Europe. Happy Cow. https://www.happycow.net/blog/the-growth-of-vegan-restaurants-in-europe/
The Guardian. (2020, September 27). The wurst is over: why Germany now loves to go vegetarian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/27/the-wurst-is-over-why-germany-land-of-schnitzels-now-loves-to-go-vegetarian
Umweltbundesamt. (2019, August). Die Zukunft im Blick: Fleisch der Zukunft. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1410/publikationen/2020-06-25_trendanalyse_fleisch-der-zukunft_web_bf.pdf
Veganz. (2020, October 30). Veganz nutrition study 2020. https://veganz.com/blog/veganz-nutrition-study-2020/