markets & consumptions
ALTERNATIVE meats: fashion, trend or prospect? By our editorial staff
The world of meats and the market that moves around it are going through a deep transformation that derives from becoming aware of the difficulties connected with environment, land, economic and social sustainability.
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t is clear that there is a trend to consume alternative products in place of meat and its derivatives, and the trend of consumption shows it clearly. Carlo Truzzo, quality manager of Metro Italia, has recently explained this topic during a seminar developed by AITA. Based on Ismea processings on ISTAT data, the consumption of bovine meat, pork and cured meats, poultry and sheep/goat meats per person in Italy dropped from 81.4 kg to 76.0 kg between 2010 and 2018. The consumption of bovine meats per person is the following: • 2010 – 23.7 kg • 2014 – 17.4 kg • 2018 – 17.2 kg. The picture is slightly different for the con-
sumption of pork and cured meats, which remains more or less stable, thanks maybe to the lower price of pork meat and to the
Consumption of pork and cured meats per person
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practicality of cured meat service and consumption. In this case the trend was: • 2010 – 38.4 kg • 2014 – 36.5 kg • 2018 – 38.2 kg. Increased consumption for poultry thanks to the competitive price of this meat: • 2010 – 18.0 kg • 2014 – 19.2 kg • 2018 – 19.7 kg. The outburst of fish products, from fishing to aquacultures, is a real surprise with consumption per person of: • 2010 – 20.9 kg • 2018 – 30.9 kg. Analysing these data and other researches carried out over the years, we can suppose that the consumption of meat in Europe and in the United States will reach its peak in 2025, then the consumption will start to decrease following the new trends. It is clear that we will have to change our food habits and food production methods to avoid malnutrition in a growing number of
