Almost 1 out of 2 Italians consume vegetable-based products 2-3 times a month: more precisely, 45.9% say they do so, according to the latest data provided by the Unione Italiana Food, which underlines that from 2023 to date, the number of consumers has grown by more than 10%, “consolidating the important role that these products play in the choices of Italians”. Also according to a survey by Astraricerche, those who eat them do so to vary their diet (41.8% of respondents) or to increase their consumption of vegetable proteins (18.6%).
“A path of transformation of eating habits in line with what is indicated by the international and national scientific community, which invites to favour vegetable proteins, such as legumes at least 3-4 times a week, to contribute to the reduction of the risk of chronic and cardiovascular diseases. However, only 1 in 4 Italians consume legumes frequently (more than 4 times a week), while the majority stay below the recommended threshold’. This is why, Unionfood explains, ‘foods such as vegetable-based products can be valuable allies at the table.
The plant-based market is in short a market that can still develop: according to NielsenIQ surveys, between 2024 and 2025 growth will be 5% for a value of approximately EUR 600 million.
In the meantime, however, the EU Parliament is studying a measure aimed at restricting the use of names that have always been used to describe vegetable-based products because they are traditionally considered to be associated with meat (so-calledmeat sounding). “A measure that aims at banning well-established and well-understood terms, without any misunderstandings or misinterpretations over time, and that appears to go against the real awareness of consumers,” say the Vegetable-Based Products Group of the Italian Food Union, according to the results processed by AstraRicerche, almost 9 out of 10 Italians (89.7%) who buy these products declare that they know what they are bringing to the table and consuming. And even when subjected to a visual test, the same consumers correctly recognise 100% vegetable products. In the case of vegan meatballs, for example, only 1 in 30 (3.4%) believe they are of animal origin. The favourites? They are burgers, meatballs, sausages and cold cuts (45.3%), along with drinks (34%) and vegetable yoghurt (32.4%).
“The growing attention to vegetable-based products is not a passing phenomenon, but a symptom of a concrete transformation in the eating habits of Italians,” comments Giancarlo Giorgio, president of the Vegetable-Based Products Group of Unione Italiana Food, a trade association that is a member of Confindustria – “All the guidelines of healthy and correct nutrition, both national and international, call for increasing the consumption of vegetables and veg proteins in particular. In this transition, plant-based products can be a fundamental ally in achieving this goal’.
Dining and Cooking