Two in Five Canadians Buy Plant-Based Meat

A woman shops at a grocery store in a file photo. Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images

A total of 39.4 percent of Canada, or nearly one in five, report they are likely to purchase plant-based food products within the next 6 months, according to a survey conducted by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab.

Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University whose group performed the study, says the numbers are higher than he expected, but prices of the products remain high.

“The market- and plant-based products clearly remain a work in progress, but the price is unsurprisingly the biggest hurdle for the category,” he said.

The cross-country survey, which was conducted in April with 5,507 respondents, examined how Canadians perceive and buy plant-based products following years of “very aggressive marketing campaigning.” The survey found that 34 percent of Canadians had consumed plant-based meat in the last year with 31 percent having done so in the past week, and 20 percent having done so a few times per month.

The number of Canadians who ate plant-based meat in the past year was found to be the highest in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (36 percent) New Brunswick (36 percent), British Columbia (36 percent), and Quebec (34 percent). A lower percentage had eaten plant-based meat in the past year in Ontario (34 percent), Alberta (29 percent), Saskatchewan (28 percent), and Prince Edward Island (26 percent), while the lowest number was in Newfoundland and Labrador (23 percent), and Manitoba (22 percent).

The numbers were higher for dairy alternatives, with 42.2 percent of Canadians having consumed a dairy alternative product in the last year. More than half of respondents who have consumed did so at least once a week.

The number who consumed dairy alternatives in the past year was highest in British Columbia (49 percent), Ontario (45 percent), and Alberta (42 percent.) The numbers were lower in Saskatchewan (40 percent), Manitoba, 39 percent, New Brunswick (37 percent), and Nova Scotia, and lowest in Quebec (33 percent), Newfoundland and Labrador (27 percent), and Prince Edward Island (20 percent).

When asked what their favourite source of protein was, a total of 49.2 percent of respondents picked animal proteins, 28.1 percent chose both animal and plant-based, and just 12.3 percent chose plant-based proteins.

Those choosing plant-based alternatives cited health reasons, personal taste, the environment, and animal welfare as their reasons.

Food Prices

The price of all food in Canada is expected to rise by 2025, according to a recent analysis by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab using historical data and machine learning. The model found in the next three years, restaurant foods are expected to go up by 46 percent, meats by 45 percent, dairy by 41 percent, fruits by 29 percent, bakery goods by 35 percent, seafood by 24 percent, and vegetables by 8 percent.

That prediction came after Canada’s Food Price Report 2023, released by the lab in December 2022, projected a 5 percent to 7 percent food price increase in 2023 and said that the average Canadian family of four will pay $1,065 more for food in 2023 than in 2022.

Additionally, 48.2 percent of respondents said they believe the quality of plant-based alternatives is improving, while 33.5 percent of respondents believe they are more knowledgeable about proteins compared to a year ago.

Janet Music, Research Associate at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said the fact that nearly half of Canadians believe plant-based products are improving is “interesting.”

“Canadians are clearly engaged and will continue to seek alternatives,” she said.