Italians and Bulgarians show little interest in veganism
Italians and Bulgarians consumers are the least interested Europeans on veganism, according to the latest research from Ceuta Group. In fact, in the last 5 years, the interest in the vegan movement has decreased by 20% in the Italian market and by 13% in Bulgaria. Italy has 10% of the population that claims to be vegetarians. However, dairy and eggs are staples of many Italian foods making veganism far less common.
Nevertheless, consumers from the rest of the EU countries are paying attention to the subject, with Dutch people leading the way with a 645% increase in internet searches related to veganism.
"Customers in the Netherlands spent €97m on meat replacements in just the first eleven months of 2018. 17% of the country identify themselves as vegetarian or vegan and 25% say they have reduced their overall meat intake", according to the research.
On the second position comes Greece, with a 590% increase in the number of consumers interested in veganism since 2014, followed by Portugal (+552%). Ironically, last year meat consumption per capita in Portugal was at a record level of 117.4 kg (meat + offal), of which 44.7 kg is pork, according to Instituto Nacional de Estatistica.
The European consumer's interest in veganism is related to environmental issues (+159%), health (+61.10%) and animal welfare (+29.78%).
Even if not totally accurate, the research shows that veganism is a strong trend, especially among millennials, and represents a challenge for food brands. "Brand owners have a new job, they have to not only create great brands, they have to create great brands that connect with the consumers…" commented Annette D’Abreo, Managing Director, Ceuta Group.
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