One in 5 Italians reduces meat consumption in favour of vegetable proteins

Thirty-nine per cent of Italians are willing to reduce their meat consumption to have less impact on the environment and feel better. This is put in black and white by the Coop Report 2024, which photographs the current Italian society, whose two main reasons for concern are the wars on Europe's doorstep and the climate emergency. A society that is different in some respects from the one of last year, with a little more availability for the shopping trolley and purchase drivers linked mainly to their own health and that of the planet.

Ancc Coop's analysis shows how 27% of Italians (37% of those under 35) are convinced that their outward appearance defines the opinion that others have of them, and how the body is the new icon to which they must devote care, which also passes through food: if in countries such as Germany attention to healthy food gains 29% favour, the Belpaese gains +36% - a figure above the European average, which is 31% - with 15% of people willing to pay a higher price for it. Specifically, healthy food does indeed cover nutritional aspects, but also 100% vegetable/plant based (3%) and vegan (2%), so much so that these two categories together account for +11.8% of volume sales (Grocery, Omnichannel Italy, var%, I sem. 2024/2023).

Those who have chosen to renounce animal derivatives altogether have risen from 2% last year to 4% today, while vegetarians (6%), flexitarians (7%) and reducetarians (8%) remain constant in the population, reaching 22% of Italians who have eliminated or reduced their meat consumption and 82% of those under 35 who adopt or may adopt a predominantly plant-based diet in the future.

What motivates consumers is not only the health drive but also the awareness of an increasingly urgent climate emergency, in which the attitude at the table has its responsibility; Compared to previous years, our compatriots have gone from thought to deed, becoming the most sustainable in Europe in their intentions to purchase ecofriendly products (+27%, against a European average of 17%), putting into practice reduction of food waste, greater attention to the environmental impact of the food consumed, reduction of energy-intensive foods such as meat, preference for foods with labels guaranteeing sustainability and healthiness, and an increase in the consumption of fresh products compared to processed ones.

New trends are thus entering the market: organic products are finally growing again, fruit and vegetable sales are halting their decline that began inexorably in 2017 and, for the first time, less meat is being sold.
"The 39% ambition," says Ancc Coop general manager Albino Russo, "does not immediately become consumption behaviour, but we are close to a change of course. In recent years, in fact, Italians' intentions told of a desire to reduce consumption of red meat, but we have seen an increase in the purchase of this product in shopping trolleys. 2024 is the first year in which the wishes coincide with the data and, in fact, sales volumes are beginning to show an initial decrease. On the other hand, there is an increase in the purchase of vegan products, the number of vegetable protein sources being used is multiplying, and the offer is beginning to give initial results, but it is clear that there is still a lot to be done in terms of food proposals from the industry and further awareness on the part of the demand side, which somehow translates this ambition into purchasing behaviour.