U.S. retail sales of plant-based meat alternatives have continued to decline, falling 12.6% to $106.8 million in the five weeks ending July 2, 2023, with units down 19.8% year-over-year, according to new data from Circana.
Anne-Marie Roerink with 210 Analytics reported that, while sales are down across all alternative meat categories, the biggest declines have been in the refrigerated meat case and produce department, where retailers have also been cutting their assortments.
“At $34.4 million, sales levels in the five weeks ended July 2, 2023, have fallen below June 2022 levels by 21.9% and compared to June of 2021, sales were down 33.4%” she noted.
Refrigerated volume sales (lbs), alternative meat, Circana data:
2019: 33.4m (+38.7% year-over-year)
2020: 58.8m (+76.2%)
2021: 59m (+0.4%)
2022: 51m (-13.6%)
June 2023: 4.1m (-25.1%)
For context, dollar sales of conventional refrigerated meat fell by 2.7% year-on-year to $8.4 billion in the five weeks ending July 2, 2023, with units down 2.9%.
Consumers are feeling inflationary pressures, and plant-based meat companies are not able to offer their plant-based alternatives at a competitive price due to high R&D payback costs. “the continued concern among consumers lies in the cumulative effect of inflation,” she said. “When comparing June 2023 to June 2020, prices have increased by 23.2%.”
Disclaimer: Circana’s point of sale data covers multi-outlet channels (grocery, mass, supercenter and club), but excludes natural channel retailers such as Whole Foods and convenience stores.
