Meat substitute sales to hospitality and catering companies have doubled in two years

Hospitality and catering companies are increasingly using alternatives to meat. The sale of meat substitutes has more than doubled in the sector in two years, according to the non-profit organization ProVeg, which promotes vegetarianism and veganism. The figures were based on wholesalers' purchasing figures.

Animal-based products, especially dairy products, sold less between 2021 and 2023. Meat substitutes grew the most, with sales at 111 percent. Dairy substitutes grew 82 percent in the same period. Meat sales dropped slightly by 2 percent.

Notably, there was a strong drop in sales of animal-based dairy products, which have not recovered from the coronavirus lockdown, when many restaurants had to close temporarily. Four years after the pandemic, animal dairy volumes are still only around three-quarters of pre-lockdown levels.

ProVeg based its calculations on the total sales figures for the period 2017-2023 of all Dutch wholesalers from which catering and hospitality companies usually purchase their products.