Future of the Industry 2024 - Balanced Protein (NECTAR)
There is no executive summary in the report. Here is a summary of the key findings.
This report from NECTAR, titled "Future of the Industry 2024: Balanced Protein," analyzes data from sensory panels with 1,192 American omnivores and flexitarians to explore the potential of balanced proteins. Balanced proteins are defined as products that blend conventional animal protein with a significant proportion of plant-based ingredients.
Key Findings:
- High Consumer Interest: There is strong consumer interest in balanced proteins, with 74% of consumers reporting they are 'extremely interested' (35%) or 'interested' (39%).
- Broader Market Appeal: Balanced proteins show higher purchase intent among omnivores (5.1 out of 7) compared to plant-based alternatives (4.7). Among flexitarians, purchase intent was high for both, with plant-based (5.4) slightly edging out balanced proteins (5.3).
- Taste Performance Can Surpass Animal Meat: In blind taste tests, the leading balanced protein products outperformed their conventional animal-based counterparts in several categories. For example, the leading balanced burger scored 5.6/7 for liking, compared to 4.9 for the animal-based burger. Balanced nuggets also scored higher (5.5 vs 5.1).
- Major Perceived Benefits are Environment and Health: Consumers primarily expect balanced proteins to offer benefits for the environment (51% of respondents) and health (47%). Animal welfare was cited as an expected benefit by 27%.
- Taste and Price are Key Concerns: Despite positive taste test results, consumers' biggest perceived weaknesses for balanced proteins are taste (cited by 45%) and price (43%).
- Significant R&D Opportunity: There is a large quality gap between the best-performing ("leader") and average balanced protein products. 56% of consumers were "promoters" of the leading products, but this dropped to 41% for the average products. The percentage of "detractors" increased from 7% for leaders to 25% for the average. This highlights a key opportunity for R&D to improve the consistency and quality of products on the market.