Enhancing Meat with Plant Proteins (NECTAR et al.)

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Recommendations and Insights for BPs in APAC

BPs can appeal to a wider set of consumers, even those currently uninterested in fully plant-based meat

BPs offer a new way to appeal to an untapped set of consumers

50% of those who 'would buy' or 'definitely would buy' a BP showed low intent to purchase plant-based meat, indicating the potential to unlock new consumer profiles
22% of consumers 'would buy' or 'definitely would buy' BPs, reaching 1.4x more consumers than plant-based products (only 16% stated they 'would buy' or 'definitely would buy')
With the introduction of BPs, 32% of consumers said they would buy products to reduce their meat consumption - higher than the 19% who would do so when plant-based meat was the only alternative

BPs need consumer-led innovation and communication to rival conventional meat

Nearly 4x more participants 'would buy' or 'definitely would buy' animal meat (85%) compared to BPs (22%)

BPs can outperform 100% animal meat on taste, yet most products require further R&D to capture meaningful market share

At least one BP product has achieved taste superiority over the animal benchmark, a particularly impressive result given the category's nascency

Several BP products are approaching taste parity with animal meat

The leading BP chicken chunk and beef mince were within 0.2 points ("pts") of the animal on a 7pt liking scale; meatballs, chicken tenders, and chicken patties were within 0.5pts

BPs offer an immediate opportunity to deliver the benefits of plants while fully plant-based products continue development

BPs were 1.8x more likely to be rated as 'like very much' or 'like' than plant-based meat (37% vs 21%)

But more R&D is needed to drive category-wide growth for BPs

60% of participants rated the animal as 'like very much' or 'like' compared to just 37% for BPs

BPs should focus on closing gaps in liking, particularly flavour, before investing heavily in product launches

Flavour sets leading BPs apart and accounts for the biggest gap in liking between average BPs and animal meat

35% rated BPs as 'like very much' or 'like' on flavour, trailing leading BPs (50%) and animal products (65%)
BPs must improve their aftertaste, meatiness, savouriness, and saltiness while reducing off-flavours, beany / pea / soy notes, and blandness

Appearance should be a key secondary focus for BPs, texture is tertiary

Just 42% rated the appearance of leading BPs as 'like very much' or 'like' (versus 62% for the animal)
Although still present, gaps on texture were smaller compared to flavour or appearance

Explore BPs with at least 50% meat in ground formats using savoury vegetables as a plant-based component

Participants indicated that these concepts were conceptually most appealing to them

BPs should highlight health as a differentiator, position with familiarity rather than novelty, and surprise on taste and price

Health offers an angle for BPs to differentiate on a key purchasing driver

69% rated BPs as healthier than conventional meat while 15% rated them the same, driving a relative increase in purchase intent of 0.5pts (similar to the impact of being perceived as better priced or tastier)

But BPs still have gaps to close with animal products on perceptions of taste, price, and familiarity

69-87% favoured animal products on taste, price, or familiarity, compared to BPs at just 3-16% preference