Plant-based 'losing the battle on their own': MLA market experts

The products being churned out as meat lookalikes made from plants and long lists of other, often chemical, ingredients are simply not seen as any threat.

MLA's general manager of marketing and insights Nathan Low told the hundreds of producers at the organisation's annual end-of-year Updates forum this week that the story around plant-based was really good for red meat.

Sales of plant-based meat copycat products had capped out at just 0.4 per cent of the category, which makes it incredibly niche, he said.

"We've had two consecutive periods of penetration decline of plant-based products, which means everyone has probably now gone through trialing it.

"Value sales of plant-based proteins have declined 11pc in the past 12 months; 19pc in the last quarter.

"So everything says it has reached its level, and that level is really small and not something our industry needs to be concerned about."

Insights into consumer 'switching' behaviour also showed that consumers were not leaving beef and lamb for plant-based products.

Plant-based buyers were really a niche audience who would not be buying beef anyway, Mr Low said.

"The insights data also tells us that those who did switch out a meal occasion to try plant-based didn't like it much and came straight back," he said.

"That's why you don't see anything that relates to plant-based in our brand marketing campaigns. We don't need to do anything, they are losing the battle on their own."

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Food service, on the other hand, is an area MLA's domestic marketing experts see a lot of value from investing in.

Mr Low said there were a few big things happening in food service right now that were significantly challenging restaurateurs.

Inflation was pushing up the price of their inputs and a shortage of labour, particularly skilled labour, was biting hard.

"Those two things together mean restaurants are looking to simplify their supply chains, what is happening in the kitchen and their menus," Mr Low said.

"A smaller list of core dishes that are really popular on the menu minimises the complexity of preparation."

Whilst that was happening behind the scenes, restaurateurs were dealing with a consumer who was more discerning and had higher standards than ever, one who was paying more than ever so was expecting a higher quality experience.

"The advantage we have is these consumers want red meat more than other proteins," Mr Low said.

"In an environment where red meat prices are historically high, if we can develop the right solutions for restaurants, solutions that utilise the whole carcase and maintain their profitability, we can maximise red meat on menus."

Areas that MLA has invested in with food service include showcasing what the 'best of the best' chefs are doing with red meat - working with highly influential chefs to inspire the rest of the food service industry.

It also has a team on the job of educating and training food service professionals in red meat preparation.

"That is important because if someone is paying $50 for a steak they won't come back unless they have a great experience," Mr Low said.

At the same time, a good deal of innovation work around red meat planning on menus - particularly with Australia's big pub groups - is happening.

And P&O Cruise Lines have also had MLA representatives knocking on their doors.

"When cruises came back after not running for two years due to COVID, the price of red meat had gone up and in some cases they couldn't afford the menu they had pre-COVID," Mr Low said.

"We knew we had to keep red meat at the centre of their menus because P&0 Cruise Lines sell 800 tonnes of beef and 400t of lamb a year when operating at full capacity.

"We partnered with them to utilise a range of different cuts to ensure a range of price points on their menu that would manage their profitability but still keep red meat pride of place."