Do vegan products reduce demand for ASFs
Also see Bryant Insight Alternative Meats Displace Demand for Animal Products
Yes
- Bryant, Ross and Flores (2023) found that people reporting increases in PBMAs reported lower animal product consumption (non causal)
- Among consumers who buy plant-based meat, 49% of these individuals said they would have bought beef otherwise, and 38% said they would have bought chicken otherwise (Tonsor, Lusk & Schroder, 2021).
- The average amount of plant-based meat consumed per person increased by 8.1% in 2022 (Statista, 2023). Conversely, fresh meat consumption decreased 7.3% and processed meat consumption decreased by 2.6% in 2022 (Statista, 2023). (from Bryant insight here)
- Data from University College London indicates that using oatmilk by default increases oatmilk drinks sold and decreases cow’s milk drinks sold in equal proportion, suggesting that plant-based defaults successfully displace animal-based options. Four student union cafes — Gordon’s Café, Print Room Café, Bloomsbury Café, and George Farha Café — implemented an oatmilk default policy in April 2022, and according to data shared with the Better Food Foundation, oatmilk orders fully doubled (21% → 42%) over the following year. https://defaultveg.medium.com/the-oat-never-bothered-me-anyway-a91cfe78ad63
No
Modelling by Lusk et al., 2022 suggests that even large decreases in the price of PBMAs would not lead to much change in the number of cows in the US
A report by Good Growth reports that asian found that consumers didn't intend to eat less meat, but had a really positive view of meat alts and would eat them more. It seems that not only would meat alts not displace, they don't even compete!
- Malan et al., 2022 dining hall study comparing impossible beef to regular beef showed 29% picked it despite price and convenience parity and potentially close to taste parity.