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A Marketer's Lens By Danette Amstein
Danette Amstein is a managing principal for Midan Marketing - a full-service agency that solely focuses on supporting the meat industry.

Plant-based meat: Resolve to keep it real in 2020

(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)

Happy 2020! It is time to make our new year’s resolutions – not the kind we have completely forgotten by Jan. 31, but rather those that create new habits with better outcomes.

For many Americans, the gluttony of Christmas cookies and eggnog leads to a resolution centered around diet and exercise. Inc. magazine reported that 71% of resolution makers stated “eating healthier” as their resolution for 20191. 

If our consumers are truly going to embrace this idea (even for a short few weeks), we need to provide background so they can make an informed choice as to what “healthier” really is.  

Why is this so important? Because 49% of meat-eating consumers say they would try plant-based alternatives because they perceive them as being “better for me.” This reason far outpaces any other reason.2

Learning this has altered my own new year’s resolution. This year, I resolve to be more disruptive with the facts. No more politely standing on the sidelines when I hear fiction being espoused as truth. My friends, family members and anyone I see picking up plant-based meat products in the grocery store are going to get a smile and then a barrage of questions:

  • Why are you considering that purchase?
  • Have you looked at the list of ingredients?
  • Have you reviewed the nutrition facts panel?

If they haven’t grabbed their cart and hightailed it out of the meat department by this point, I will ask them which nutrients are most important to them and help them compare. 

Consumers don’t seem to understand that a 4-ounce portion of 85% lean/15% fat ground beef compared to the same weight of plant-based meat alternatives has very similar amounts of total calories, fat and saturated fat, with less sodium and slightly more protein. And all ground beef options with a higher lean content (i.e., 93% lean/7% fat) actually outperform plant-based meats for all of these nutrient values.

The bigger difference is what’s in it. Sometimes visuals are better than words:

And sometimes the data speaks for itself:3

If you’re like me, your family members and friends look to you as their personal meat industry expert, so I encourage you to screen shot the info here and share it on your social channels today. Help those you care about easily get accurate information to make informed choices. As meat consumers kick off their “eat healthier” resolutions, give them the facts about the new, shiny and trendy that help them select the tried, true and proven. Give them permission to select beef. 

Join me in educating consumers in 2020. If we all work together, we can have a significant impact, first in our own circle of family and friends, then on a larger scale.

Who’s in?

1 https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2019.html

2 Midan Marketing, Survey of 750 U.S. consumers who had eaten beef, pork and/or chicken in the last month, December 2019

3https://impossiblefoods.com/burger/;https://www.beyondmeat.com/products/beyond-beef/; https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/foods/f/calories-in-beef-ground-beef-85-lean-15-fat-raw/fLiwC-NBR-qPV26yXM7pFA

1/1/2020

 
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