Feeding Change: Addressing Taste, Trust and Scale to Drive the Protein Transition

A large-scale shift in diets towards plant-based or novel protein sources is one of the most impactful levers to mitigate climate change, create business resilience and support long-term global food system sustainability.

Boston Consulting Group estimates that increasing the market share for alternative proteins from 2% to 8% by 2030 could yield an emissions reduction equivalent to decarbonising 95% of the aviation industry. Such a shift also presents significant market opportunities – Systemiq, for example, estimates that plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation-based ingredients could add €111 billion to the EU economy by 2040. But achieving the change in consumer behaviour to support this shift has fallen short so far. In Europe, demand for plant-based foods remains variable and in the minority, compared to animal products, for example.

This article explores why this change has been so hard to achieve and how companies, investors and policymakers can overcome these challenges and drive a sustainable protein transition that addresses consumer needs, supports commercial viability and ensures the food system remains within the Earth’s planetary boundaries. It has been informed by a roundtable discussion convening corporate, investor and policy stakeholders to discuss real-world challenges and actions being taken to accelerate the protein transition.

Taste is the single biggest determinant of growth for sustainable proteins. According to NECTAR, a non-profit focused on accelerating the protein transition through taste, 60% of consumers say taste drives their decision making, while almost 50% say that poor taste is the biggest barrier to repeated purchases, creating a significant business risk for companies.

Product innovation that improves the taste, texture and appearance of plant-based and novel protein ingredients and products therefore represents a major lever in supporting consumer behaviour change and diet shift, but only when it can be commercialised and scaled.

Indeed, taste is not simply about consumer preference - it is an important predictor of commercial success. Research by NECTAR shows that categories with the strongest sensory performance tend to command significantly higher market share than lower-performing categories, suggesting that investments in product quality may generate greater returns than category expansion alone. FAIRR’s latest engagement progress report highlighted that while 90% of companies continue to launch and promote new plant-based products, they do not always reflect consumer preferences, with 77% noting that concerns over product performance, price or nutritional value are constraining uptake.

Understanding what to focus on when launching or improving a product is crucial for food manufacturers and retailers as research and development (R&D) spend is limited, and product launches that don’t lead to revenue growth or market share improvements represent an investment risk. Conducting in-depth consumer research into which products perform best on taste, texture and appearance can support companies to develop targeted R&D approaches that can underpin long-term protein diversification or sustainability strategies.

Food manufacturers, retailers, restaurants and canteens can also take steps beyond product innovation to improve the taste experience that consumers have, such as swapping unappealing descriptions for indulgent language on menus and labels, arranging plant-based dishes to emphasise their most appealing ingredients or improving their overall appearance, as highlighted by the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Health and wellness trends also have a significant influence over people’s food choices, representing a barrier and an opportunity for companies looking to drive consumers towards more sustainable proteins.

Some consumers perceive meat analogues and plant-based products to be unhealthy due to their processed nature and the prevalence of the ultra-processed food (UPF) narrative. Fitness trends and increased use of GLP1 weight-loss medications that emphasise increasing consumption of proteins are also driving consumers towards animal-based products, exacerbated by the growth of social media influencers.

Regardless of the ongoing scientific debate around UPFs, consumer perception is already shaping purchasing behaviour. Companies therefore face a dual challenge: improving the nutritional profiles of products to emphasise the functional benefits of plant-based diets for building muscle, improving gut health or increasing fibre intake, while also building trust through transparent communication and credible third-party endorsements.

Offering blended products or encouraging consumers to pair animal-based proteins with a bigger proportion of vegetables/legumes/plant-based ingredients, can appeal to customer segments that are health conscious but reticent to try meat analogues. Blended products can also represent an attractive opportunity, as they require less behavioural change from consumers and can leverage existing supply chains while potentially delivering improvements in nutrition, sustainability and taste, albeit such products can also face technological and regulatory hurdles depending on the ingredient mix used.

To improve trust, working with credible stakeholders and initiatives that seek to improve community health outcomes to emphasise the healthiness of plant-based or novel proteins can also help food manufacturers and retailers to build legitimacy around their product portfolios and reduce misinformation.

Utility, convenience, familiarity and social proof – showing that other people have purchased and found value in a product – also play a key role in supporting a dietary shift towards plant-based and novel protein sources, often working in tandem with factors such as taste and health.

Food retailers, restaurants and other service companies can use product placement, labelling and other nudging techniques to boost visibility and influence purchasing decisions as well as refining the approach taken for different products or markets based on what successfully translates into higher or repeated sales. Creating recipe cards and meal kits that group all the required ingredients or products together can also support consumers that are time-poor or trying certain products for the first time, improving overall awareness and familiarity - as highlighted by the success of the “Bean Burrito” Campaign in Denmark.

Consumer-driven product innovation can also be leveraged to generate social proof. Swedish plant-based dairy brand Oatly developed its Barista Edition product to address the limitations of earlier plant-based milks, such as poor frothing, separation, and taste interference, and anchored its go-to-market strategy around cafes, specialist coffee chains and baristas, rather than targeting a retail setting. By placing Barista Edition in premium coffee shops, it aimed to create “café credibility” and allow consumers to experience product performance, taste and texture first-hand.

But the success of innovative products and ingredients in supporting a dietary shift is also highly dependent on their acceptance by food retailers and distributors, as decisions around product listings, ingredient standards and category positioning can significantly influence consumer access. A reluctance to stock products developed through certain processes or using specific ingredients, for example, can severely curtail their commercial potential, regardless of their performance on factors such as taste or nutritional value.

Product innovation is not without its challenges. Although the cost of technologies such as cell cultivation or precision fermentation has decreased by 99% over the past decade, due to improvements in commercial scaling, production yields and feedstock optimisation, price parity with animal-based proteins remains elusive for bulk commodity proteins, such as whey.

Companies that focus their innovation efforts on premium categories can compete on cost, but as such products typically appeal to a narrower consumer base, their contribution to broader dietary shifts is limited, while the consumer demand needed to support company investment at scale may also be insufficient.

Achieving price parity not only depends on further technological advances, but also on access to capital. Product innovation has been challenged by declining private equity and venture capital investment since 2021, reflecting a shifting macro environment and the long time horizons required to scale food technologies. As companies move from proof-of-concept to scale-up models of production, their financing requirements increasingly resemble infrastructure investments rather than traditional venture-backed software businesses. This creates a role for patient debt and equity capital from institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds and endowments that can provide longer-term support or mobilise additional private investment.

The need to scale production extends beyond company valuations, as higher production costs typically flow through to retail prices – a factor that continues to shape (and in some cases hinder) consumer behaviour. Offering plant-based products or meat analogues at a discount or at price parity with animal-based equivalents, can encourage consumers to try products they may not otherwise be willing or able to.

Lidl Germany started offering the majority of its vegan own brand range, Vemondo, at price parity with equivalent animal-based products in 2023. Vegan product sales increased by more than 30% in the six months that followed, while six other European retailers also replicated the move. Conversely, earlier this year, Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo Food Group announced that it would reconsider its decision to stop temporary promotional offers on meat, as it had not yielded the desired consumer behaviour change. In part, Jumbo attributed this being the only supermarket in the Netherlands to take such a step, with peers failing to follow suit and meat sales simply shifting.

These examples demonstrate that price-driven efforts yield mixed results, highlighting the importance of companies tailoring their pricing strategies to specific markets and demographics. Furthermore, in today’s environment – characterised by rising energy and fertiliser prices and supply chain shocks linked to geopolitical tension and physical climate risks – traditional wholefood plant proteins such as tinned or dried pulses and legumes provide a robust buffer against meat price inflation.

While companies and investors play a critical role in accelerating the protein transition, many of the barriers to consumer adoption cannot be overcome by the private sector alone. Consumer awareness, price competitiveness, research infrastructure, workforce development and scale-up financing are all influenced by policy decisions, highlighting the importance of a supportive enabling environment.

Consumer adoption remains one of the most significant constraints on the growth of sustainable protein markets. Taste, health perceptions, convenience, social proof and price all interact to influence purchasing decisions, meaning improvements to any single factor are unlikely to drive large-scale behavioural change in isolation.

For investors, the strongest opportunities may lie with companies that can simultaneously address these challenges through product innovation and strategies that deliver a compelling narrative around protein diversification. But translating product innovation into commercial success requires patient capital, retailer buy-in and supportive policy intervention that encourages ecosystem-wide collaboration.

Contact

Jo Raven, jo.raven@fairr.org

Dana Wilson, dana.wilson@fairr.org

Matthew Chatsuwan, matthew.chatsuwan@fairr.org

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