Vegetarian and vegan meat alternatives are becoming increasingly popular, as figures from the Federal Statistical Office show. In 2023, 16.6 percent more meat substitute products were produced than in the previous year.
Whether veggie burgers, tofu bratwurst or seitan mortadella: Germans are increasingly turning to meat substitute products. And this despite the fact that they are often more expensive than the original. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 16.6 percent more meat substitute products were produced in 2023 than in the previous year. In a five-year comparison to 2019, production has more than doubled.
In total, around 121,600 tons of vegetarian and vegan meat alternatives were produced in 2023. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the monetary value of this production was 583.2 million euros, 8.5 percent more than in 2022. The number of companies that produce meat substitute products in Germany also increased from 51 in 2022 to 67 last year.
Meat consumption in Germany is falling
Despite these increases, the market is still niche. German meat production will have a value of 44.8 billion euros in 2023 – almost 80 times more than the value of vegetarian and vegan alternatives. Nevertheless, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) reports that meat consumption in Germany is falling.
According to preliminary data from the Federal Information Center for Agriculture (BZL), people in Germany consumed an average of 51.6 kilograms of meat per capita in 2023. In 2019 it was 58.8 kilograms. This means that meat consumption per capita fell by almost twelve percent.
The BLE sees a possible reason for the decline in a growing awareness of the effects of high meat consumption on one’s own health, climate and environment.