#2 - FLEXITARIANISM, EL DORADO FOR PLANT-BASED MEAT MANUFACTURERS?

We already know about different dietary regimes:

• Vegan
• Vegetarian (and its variants such as pescatarian for example)
• Omnivore

Well, INTERBEV, the French meat lobby, has popularized flexitarianism. Its slogan: "eat meat but eat it better" ??

Basically: continue as before, but say that you are a flexitarian.

??Why invent a new word to say the same thing?

In France, vegetarians and vegans don't have a good reputation among omnivores.

It's not uncommon for omnivores to feel the need to justify their meat consumption when eating with vegetarians, even if they haven't been asked or criticized. Just eating with a vegetarian seems to make some people uncomfortable.

I won't get into armchair psychology explanations. I'll just mention some facts and leave the interpretation to those more qualified than me.

The problem?

How do you justify continuing to eat meat (and fish):

• when we're under pressure to reduce our carbon footprint and all studies show that meat production is extremely polluting?
• when we know that the animals we eat feel pain the same way as our pets do?
• when we know that industrial animal farming is a source of global zoonoses?
• when there are very similar alternatives for a number of animal products?

Most of the time, justifications are:

• "I buy my meat from the local farmer / the small neighborhood butcher / the small local producer"
• "I eat less meat than before"
• "I only eat organic meat"

So, INTERBEV saw an opportunity to gather all these justifications under one term.

Flexitarianism ??

Flexitarians eat less meat and buy from small local producers, being very careful about the quality. An omnivore with values, in short.

??Why it's important to consider flexitarianism when marketing vegan meat substitutes in the French market?

Only 5% of French people consider themselves vegan, and 2% vegetarian. That's still a small percentage and doesn't explain the strong growth in vegan product sales.

However, over a third of French people (35%) have already consumed vegan products.

That's where the market is: people who consider themselves flexitarians!

??What are the main obstacles for flexitarians regarding vegan products?

Obstacle #1: Taste

Flexitarians are attached to their taste habits. They may find that vegan products don't have the same taste or texture as animal-based products, which can discourage them from buying them.

They are also used to cooking in a certain way, and may fear that vegan meat substitutes are more difficult to cook to get the same taste.

Solutions:

• Continuously improve the taste experience to make it as close as possible to meat products
• Emphasize taste on all advertising media, especially on packaging
• Educate on the easy interchangeability between traditional and vegan products, which can be cooked the same way

Obstacle #2: Cost

Vegan products are sometimes more expensive than animal-based products, especially highly processed products.

For example, the Bordeaux Chesnel vegan "rillettes" were sold for about €14/kg while the animal-based version cost about €11/kg. The choice was easy because the vegan product was smaller and slightly more expensive than the traditional product.

This can limit accessibility to these products for consumers on a limited budget.

Solutions:

• Try to reduce production costs as much as possible without reducing quality
• Emphasize cleaner composition on all advertising media, especially on packaging

Obstacle #3: Availability

Vegan products are not always available in all stores. This is a real problem when you consider that most people do all their shopping in one store. Availability is even lower in supermarkets in rural areas, where stores are hesitant to use shelf space for products with low consumption.

Solutions:

• Get your products into as many supermarket chains as possible
• Develop a frozen range that can stay on the shelf longer, reducing the risk of loss for supermarkets
• Increase communication about online sales and offer delivery beyond a certain amount or subscription

Obstacle #4: Composition

One of the arguments against vegan meat substitutes is that they are highly processed (a vegan steak versus an animal steak). In France, "processed" means "poor quality" and "bad for health".

So even though studies show that consuming red meat increases the risk of certain cancers, it is still considered more noble, more qualitative and healthier.

Moreover, the cleanest products are still very poorly represented in supermarkets.

Some flexitarians may also fear not getting enough essential nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium, etc. by consuming vegan products.

Solutions:

• Have a cleaner composition with as few ingredients as possible and avoiding controversial ingredients (such as certain preservatives)
• Increase communication that the product is made of natural ingredients, good for health and balanced in nutrients (especially on packaging)
• Develop a frozen range that can stay on the shelf longer with fewer preservatives

Obstacle #5: The word "vegan" on the product

We, vegans, usually do a little happy dance in the supermarket aisle when we see the vegan logo on the product. No need to read the composition in detail to find hidden milk extract, and no risk of missing an "E something" that would actually be crushed insects (hello E120 ??).

It's not the same for flexitarians. They don't consider themselves vegetarian, let alone vegan. The vegan logo prominently displayed on the front of the product can deter them from buying.

Solution:

• Note "vegetable" or "veggie" on the front of the packaging, and put the vegan logo on the back

??Conclusion

There is still room for new meat substitutes on the French market, especially in supermarkets. The offer is still relatively poor in healthy products, with few ingredients. Even more outside of big cities.

By taking into account the fact that the majority of consumers consider themselves flexitarians, it is possible to avoid the main pitfalls when creating and marketing these products.

I CAN HELP YOU WITH:

?? The adaptation of your marketing strategy for the french market?

?? The optimization of the conversions for your website (in English and French)

?? The creation of a conversion optimized copywriting for your french website and emails?

??? HOW TO WORK WITH ME?

Easy peasy: send me a DM on LinkedIn and let's talk about your project ??