Willingness to replace animal-based products with pulses among consumers in different European countries

The growing world population and increased meat consumption pose a challenge for current food production systems. While pulses present a promising position in terms of low impacts in primary production and high nutritional quality, it is unclear whether consumers are willing to consume pulses instead of meat. Based on an online survey answered by 4,322 respondents across five European countries, this study examined consumers’ willingness to utilize pulses as a plant-based alternative to animal-based products. More than a third of pulse consumers (42%) were, to some extent, already using pulses as an alternative to animal-based foods. Beef was noted as the most frequently replaced type of food, mainly driven by arguments relating to health, environment, and sustainability, especially relevant for German and Danish consumers. Respondents who did not indicate a current replacement of animal-based foods stated a relatively low willingness to change in the future (40%). German pulse consumers were likely to be part of the low willingness segment. In contrast, Polish consumers possessed a relatively higher incidence of using pulses instead of meat, especially pork and poultry. Respondents with a low replacement willingness indicated a high importance of future pulse-based products to be natural, while respondents already using pulses instead of animal-based foods expected convenient and minimally processed foods. Respondents, who already replaced meat with pulses or expressed a low future willingness, stated to prefer plain pulses over processed pulse-based products, and meat-resembling forms considering the former segment, alternatively to meat. These preferences and expectations should be considered for future product development, especially if aiming to attract unwilling consumers to shift to pulse-based foods.全球人口增长与肉类消费量攀升，给当前食品生产体系带来了严峻挑战。食用豆类（pulses）虽在初级生产环节环境影响较低、营养品质优异，展现出可观的应用前景，但目前尚不清楚消费者是否愿意以食用豆类替代肉类食品。本研究依托欧洲5个国家4322名受访者参与的线上调查，检验了消费者将食用豆类作为动物性产品植物基替代品的意愿。超三分之一的食用豆类消费者（42%）已在一定程度上将食用豆类作为动物性食品的替代品。其中，牛肉是最常被替代的食品品类，该替代行为主要受健康、环境与可持续发展相关考量驱动，这一特征在德国与丹麦消费者群体中尤为显著。尚未表示当前正以食用豆类替代动物性食品的受访者，未来改变饮食选择的意愿相对较低（占比40%）。德国的食用豆类消费者更大概率属于低意愿群体。与之形成对比的是，波兰消费者以食用豆类替代肉类（尤其是猪肉与禽肉）的比例相对更高。低替代意愿的受访者认为，未来的食用豆类产品需具备天然属性，这一点对他们而言至关重要；而已将食用豆类作为动物性食品替代品的消费者，则期望产品兼具便捷性与低加工度。无论是已经以食用豆类替代肉类的受访者，还是未来饮食改变意愿较低的群体，均表示相较于加工型食用豆类制品，他们更偏好纯食用豆类产品；其中前者还期望产品具备类似肉类的形态，以作为肉类的替代品。上述偏好与期望可为未来的产品开发提供参考依据，尤其是在计划吸引不愿改变饮食结构的消费者转向食用豆类食品的场景中。