Welcome to Groundhog Day. No, not the 90s film classic, but the real-life rerun of the EU once again trying to ban ‘meaty’ names for plant-based products.
It feels like just yesterday that meat and plant-based were battling it out over language, with the European Parliament adjudicating. In 2020, Amendment 165 proposed to outlaw terms such as ‘burger’, ‘sausage’, ‘steak’ and ‘escalope’ for vegetarian and vegan alternatives. It was voted down.
And now here we are again. The EU is once again attempting to police plant-based language, although this time with a slight difference.
The Commission is happy for plant-based ‘steak’, ‘sausage’ and ‘burger’ products to remain on-shelf, while 29 ‘meaty’ terms could get the chop. These include bacon, beef, chicken, drumstick, wing and brisket.
Addressing consumer confusion: Are shoppers getting it wrong?
One of the key concerns around plant-based terminology is consumer confusion. The Commission doesn’t want shoppers to accidentally buy a plant-based bacon product thinking it’s the real deal: smokey, thick cut, made from pig.
The meat industry doesn’t want this either – why should the plant-based sector steal a sale from pork processors?! And what if the shopper prefers it to traditional bacon? Uh oh, then Big Meat has a problem.
But I query how often this actually happens. While some studies show consumers struggle to distinguish products when tested in controlled, screen-based environments, real-world shopping tells a different story. In supermarkets, most shoppers can easily tell plant-based products apart from conventional meat.
I can’t help but smile at the idea of a die-hard meat lover accidentally picking up plant-based chicken instead of the real thing. They head to the plant-based section, grab a product like The Vegetarian Butcher’s Vegan What the Cluck or THIS Isn’t Chicken, and somehow think: “Yep, this is chicken.”
In this scenario, the poultry industry loses a sale. But if the shopper’s a true carnivore, it’s likely a one-time mistake – not a conversion.
Plant-based allergens must be taken seriously
Allergens on the other hand, are no joke.
If an allergy-prone consumer accidentally buys a vegan beef alternative instead of conventional beef, that could have life-threatening consequences. Especially if the shopper in question has an anaphylaxic reaction to a popular plant-based ingredient such as soy, gluten or nuts.
That, in my opinion, is the main reason plant-based meat alternatives should differentiate themselves from meat. That’s why I’m happy to see plant-based meat alternatives sold in a standalone section of the supermarket, that’s why witty branding like ‘THIS Isn’t Chicken’ works beyond its nod to Magritte, and that’s why clearly labelling a meat alternative as ‘plant-based’, ‘vegan’, ‘vegetarian’, or ‘meat-free’ is non-negotiable.
Some brands take it a step further, and they should be applauded for it. On the plant-based dairy side of things, Saputo Dairy’s butter alternative brand Vitalite is reworking its labelling with food safety front-and-centre. The brand clearly demarcates its butter alternative is dairy free, gluten free, soya free and lactose free.
Elsewhere, Nestlé’s Garden Gourmet brand makes a ‘Sensational Burger’ that’s clearly marked as ‘vegan’. The packet also carries ‘made with soy protein’ twice front-of-pack. More of this please.
Is plant-based really eating into meat’s market share?
That plant-based meat alternatives mislead consumers is only one of the arguments against meaty terminology for plant-based.
Another concern is that plant-based alternatives are riding on the coattails of an extremely successful and longstanding sector. If plant-based brands were stealing meat consumers in any significant way, I could perhaps, at a stretch, understand the frustration.
Although equally, we don’t ban electric vehicle makers from using ‘engine’ or terms such as ‘horsepower’ or ‘torque’ – which all come from traditional combustion engines.
But let’s be honest: the plant-based sector isn’t exactly eating into meat’s market share. If anything, it’s barely nibbling. And even if it were, some wouldn’t mind – after all, the world’s largest meat company, JBS, owns both Vivera and The Vegetarian Butcher.
The truth is, the plant-based meat sector is having a hard time. Concerns over ultra-processing and nutrition have dented consumer confidence. Some companies have folded, while others are barely hanging on – creating prime opportunities for bigger players with deeper pockets to swoop in.
Outlawing meaty terminology for plant-based products is a case of kicking the sector when it’s down. Ironically, some of the fastest growing products in the meat-free aisle aren’t even trying to mimic meat – they’re products like tempeh or tofu and don’t use ‘meaty’ terminology at all.
So let’s give the sector some breathing room. To plant-based manufacturers: keep signposting your non-meatiness with terms like ‘vegan’, ‘plant-based’, or ‘meat-free’. And if your product contains a top allergen, make sure that’s front-of-pack and crystal clear.
Do that, and we’ve got a deal: you can keep your plant-based bacon.
