Yes, the manufacturers pay for the most desirable shelf space - but they're not going to pay for it for very long if their product isn't selling.



Working in a grocery store, I did see a surprising number of people buying the fake meats, but other than the ones who apparently didn't even read the label, and just picked it up because it appeared to be great big pre-formed hamburger patties, the ones who realized what they were buying, it seemed like they were only buying it to try it for whatever reason -perhaps because someone they knew told them it was better for them than real meat, or a friend insisted that they couldn't tell the difference between that fodder and real meat. Sometimes it was because they wanted to provide something that would make a vegan guest happy at a holiday meal.



But the meat case guy that said people prefer real bull was exactly right.


There's a thread on here somewhere quoting an executive at one of the fake meat companies as saying their target market is NOT the vegetarian or vegan - they want to sway meat lovers to use their products. Since vegans are a very small part of the population, even if they buy it, they would never be enough of a market share to warrant all the $$$ being invested in these products - certainly not worth what these companies are paying for prime grocery display real estate. The thing is, they're really not going to fool or even interest most meat eaters in that garbage, other than when buying it for a guest who is already vegan, or trying it on a dare, or accidentally picking it up because it LOOKS like real meat, and is sold in the meat dept. (I had many customers shocked at the ridiculous price they were charging for a couple of hamburgers, and had me take it off their order)



My hope is that it'll go the way of so many other new products, and that it won't be around for very long.