The vegetable meat market in Italy

The term "vegetable meat" refers to a plant-based food used as a substitute for meat that is very similar in color, smell and texture to meat. The most commonly consumed types in the market are:

-Seitan: made from wheat flours with high gluten concentrations such as semolina or durum wheat

-Wheat muscle: produced with gluten powder and legume flour

-Mopur: very similar to wheat muscle that involves the addition of yeast

Vegetable meat has the advantage of being cholesterol-free and having high levels of dietary fiber, phytosterols and lecithins.

The global vegetable meat market had grown to be worth $6.67 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach 16.7 billion in 2026. Between 2016 and 2026, this is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 16.37 percent.

At the Italian level, as stated by the Unionfood association, in the last year the market grew by 3.7 percent compared to the year 2020. This growth is justified by the fact that more and more Italians prefer vegetable meat for health reasons (76%) and ethical reasons (63%). In the year 2021, 37.9% of Italian households made vegetable meat part of their food choices, thus reaching an estimated 22 million consumers.

The market trend is to focus on research and development activities to create foods that are increasingly similar, not only in nutritional terms but also in taste and flavor, to meat with more and more raw materials. Today, vegetable meat is made from plant proteins such as legumes, but it is expected that by 2025 we will be able to use mushrooms, unicellular algae, and yeasts as raw materials. In addition, it is expected that by 2032 plant meat can be produced in the laboratory directly from animal cells.