How can consumer science help the foodservice industry replace meat? A critical review
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14649388 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Iuri Baptista (0000-0002-3827-829X, Örebro University Hospital, corresponding author), Emma Garnett (0000-0001-9318-8548), Emma E Garnett (0000-0002-1664-9029, University of Oxford), Åsa Öström (0000-0001-8848-5812, Örebro University Hospital) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 207 |
| Pages | 107861 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Appetite (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0195-6663 • E-ISSN: 1095-8304 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.appet.2025.107861 |
| PMID | 39805332 |
| OpenAlex | W4406281407 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 39 |
In the pursuit of more sustainable diets, researchers have been studying ways to promote a transition from animal- to plant-based meals in foodservice contexts by influencing participants’ conscious choices through names, labels, claims, and information. This critical review found that these interventions usually mobilize only those already engaged in reducing the consumption of animal products and often only during the intervention period, failing to influence those who eat most meat or to create long-lasting effects. Analyzing the choice for vegetarian meals against meals with meat in recently published studies conducted in foodservice contexts, we argue that the transition to more sustainable diets should rely less on consumers’ willpower and more on public policies and institutional measures that change the availability, price, and visibility of plant-based meals. Inspired by behavioral sciences, this paper discusses interventions that challenge meals with meat as the default option and suggests hybrids as a path to increase the availability, convenience, and sensory familiarity of vegetarian meals. The paper ends with proposals for questions, interventions, metrics, and issues to be researched by consumer science, including questions on the degree of freedom of consumers’ choice and what would be the ethical limits to telling half the truth about hybrids. • Studies have usually focused on interventions to influence consumer choice • Their effects are statistically significant but small in gross meat reduction • Changing the default offer has been shown as the most promising strategy • Future research should test actions by public and private institutions
Business · Meat packing industry · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Chemistry · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Food Science · Marketing
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |