Almost one in five (18%) Germans aged between 16 and 24 purchase meat-alternative products, compared with an average of one in ten (11%) across all age groups. Almost one in four (23%) eat alternative meat products a few times a month, while 12% admit to replacing meat with meat substitutes a few times a week.

As many as 15% of German 16 to 24-year-olds consider themselves to be vegetarians, over double the German average at 7%. However, the number of German consumers who use meat alternative products declines with age with less than 3% of over 55s vegetarian and just 5% of the group purchasing meat alternatives. Amongst consumers who tried meat alternatives, almost half (48%) were occasional users with a frequency of once a month or less.

For these young consumers ethical considerations (39%) remain the main influencer of choice in favour of meat alternatives while 30% claim it is due to concerns about the environmental impact of industrial meat production. Four in ten (38%) of 45 to 54-year-olds eat meat alternatives because they are trying to eat more healthily.

Katya Witham, senior food and drink analyst Germany at Mintel, said: “Domestic meat consumption has been slipping in recent years, reflecting a trend towards meat reduced diets and vegetarianism in Germany. With the growing ranks of consumers embracing vegetarianism and veganism or a flexitarian eating pattern, the meat alternatives category is emerging from the shadows in Germany, fuelled by demand for a healthier and more varied diet.​

“Young German consumers are leading this trend, they are most likely to be abstaining from meat consumption more frequently and will likely to follow this nutritional pattern in the future.”​

However, despite the move towards eating meat substitutes there is one major hurdle in that only 14% of Germans say that they enjoy the taste of these products.