Sun, Nov-19-23, 01:58
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
Beef burgers are back on the menu as demand for vegan food plunges
Beyond Meat, the plant-based food company, has revealed its revenue dropped by 9pc as demand for its meat alternatives stalled
Veganism is being edged out and meat is back on the menu with the latest craze among foodies being “smashed burgers”, new data suggests.
Plant-based brand Beyond Meat last week revealed its revenue had dropped by 9 per cent as demand for its animal alternatives stalled.
The company said it would cut around a fifth of its workforce in response to its performance.
Overall industry sales of meat alternatives are down 13.6 per cent over the last year, with an expert analyst Carol RatCliffe saying: “After many years of strong growth, meat alternatives have fallen into decline.”
It comes after Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons slashed their vegan ranges by 10 per cent, according to the Grocer, and Pret A Manger axed 75 per cent of its vegetarian-only stores in December. There were also “notably fewer” patrons at the UK’s biggest indoor vegan event, Vegan Fest, last year, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, UK meat consumption is on the up.
An average Briton consumed 61.7kg of meat in 2022, compared with 55.8kg in 2012, according to Statista data published in August. And the UK’s collective appetite is forecast to remain strong until 2027.
The new trend reviving the nation’s hunger for meat are burgers – “smashed burgers”.
The beef boom is being turbocharged by patties which are flattened on the grill with the back of a spatula searing the meat and creating crispy edges, while locking in the juices.
Many restaurants such as Supernova, Bleecker Burger, Black Bear Burger and Beefy Boys have developed cult-like followings and won praise from industry-leading chefs.
All of which has made the trendy burger style near ubiquitous in towns and cities up and down the country.
Toby Inskip, who tracks UK food trends and has more than one million followers across his social media accounts called Eating With Tod, said he first tried a smashed patty five years ago and that the practice has “revolutionised” burgers.
He said: “It has made something that was always quite dry and boring, exciting and aesthetically pleasing.
“Smashed burgers bring a whole new experience to the table, with its added crispiness and better taste, it’s a different league to old school burgers.”
He said people are now creating entire, and crucially, successful businesses around burgers.
Molly Hutchinson, who organises the annual meat festival Meatopia, said such businesses are developing “cult” followings. Ms Hutchinson said: “What we’re seeing at the moment is a rise in the cult burger brands. It’s great to see more burger restaurants with strong ethos around sustainable, responsibly sourced meat.”
She said responsibly sourced meat is more sustainable than heavily processed meat alternatives. “I think we can all agree we should be eating more vegetables,” Ms Hutchinson said. “But heading to your local butcher and buying locally sourced, grass fed beef burgers is more sustainable than grabbing an over processed meat alternative. We can still be environmentally conscious and balanced in our diets, whilst also having delicious, varied meals.”
When asked if vegan smashed burgers were in competition with their real meat counterparts, Mr Inskip said: “They don’t really work, it’s alright, but the whole point is to get the crisp edge and charred quality, but with a vegetable you just don’t get that caramelisation.”
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...-based-plunges/ |
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