“Consumers are significantly less likely to order cultivated meat than conventional meat.”
Purdue University’s monthly Consumer Food Insights Report for March looks at US consumers’ attitudes toward cultivated meat, finding reticence as well as opportunities for education.
Researchers found that at least 94% of 1,200 consumers surveyed were willing to eat common conventional meats in a restaurant setting, including beef and chicken. But the proportion of consumers willing to eat cultivated versions of these meats in a restaurant setting was 30 percentage points lower, at about 65%.
“Given the fact that cell-cultured meat is not widely available, these results reflect consumer distrust of the unknown when it comes to food, which is a barrier for any novel food,” Joseph Balagtas, lead report author and director of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability, said.
Interestingly, among the 10% of consumers unwilling to try conventional meats — presumably vegans and those who abstain from meat for religious or health reasons — about 46% said they’d try cultivated chicken, 26% said they’d try cultivated beef and 22% said they’d try cultivated pork.
“This shows that there may be a market for cultivated meat among a sizable portion — albeit small number — of consumers who do not eat meat along with a majority of consumers who already are willing to try conventional versions of these meats,” Balagtas said.
Consumers additionally reported that they believe cultivated beef and chicken are as much as 39% less tasty than conventional beef and chicken, while they believe conventional beef is 31% healthier than cultivated. Chicken fared even better, with consumers saying they believe conventional chicken is 45% healthier than cultivated.
Source: US consumers: Conventional meat is tastier, healthier than cultivated meat | Alt Meat