Consumer acceptance of plant-forward recipes in a natural consumption setting

A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives

Restaurants are characterized by high levels of meat being consumed in this out-of-home setting, while plant-based meat alternatives remain a niche product, thus preserving a high environmental impact of food consumption. We tested whether subtly re-designing the restaurant menu, so that plant-based meat alternatives were perceived as the default to a greater extent, increased consumer selection of plant-based meat alternatives. Consumers' freedom of choice was preserved by leaving all choice options on the menu. An online experiment in The Netherlands showed that consumers choose plant-based meat alternatives more often relative to meat when the plant-based option is framed as the default. In a field experiment in a Dutch restaurant, we found that the amount of ordered plant-based meat alternative dishes substantially increased relative to an equivalent meat dish when implementing a default nudge (bean alternative: from 8.6% to 80.0%; seaweed alternative: from 16.1% to 58.3%). Thus, re-designing the menu in a way that suggests that plant-based meat alternatives are the default, while preserving autonomous decision-making, is a promising route to promote out-of-home adoption of plant-based meat alternatives in restaurants.

Effectiveness of strategies to decrease animal sourced protein and/or increase plant sourced protein in foodservice settings: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Effective population-based strategies are required to move towards healthy sustainable diets which replace a proportion of animal- with plant-based protein. Foodservice can support this using a variety of strategies across the food supply chain.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to decrease animal protein and/or increase plant protein in foodservice settings on uptake, satisfaction, financial, environmental, and dietary intake outcomes.

METHODS

Seven databases were searched in November 2020 with no restriction on study dates to identify peer-reviewed study designs conducted in commercial and institutional foodservices using any strategy to decrease beef, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs, fish or seafood and/or increase legumes/pulses, legume/pulse-based meat substitutes or nuts and reported this review's primary outcome, uptake by consumers either quantitatively or qualitatively. Secondary outcomes were satisfaction and financial, environmental, and dietary intake outcomes. Titles/abstracts then full texts were screened independently by two authors. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used for quality appraisal. Results were described using a narrative synthesis by strategy type. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021235015).

RESULTS

From 20,002 records identified, 38 studies met eligibility criteria, of which 16% were high quality. Strategies included forced restriction (n=4), menu re-design (n=6), recipe re-design (n=6), service re-design (n=4), menu labelling (n=7), prompt at point of sale (n=7) and multi-pronged strategies (n=4). Menu labelling, prompting at the point of sale and re-designing menus, recipes, and service increased uptake of target foods in most studies with the largest consistent changes in menu re-design. Few studies explored secondary outcomes. Recipe re-design, prompt at the point of sale and menu labelling strategies that measured satisfaction found a positive or neutral effect.

CONCLUSIONS

The most promising strategies are likely in menu re-design, followed by menu labelling and service re-design. Satisfaction appears to not be negatively impacted by recipe re-design, prompting at the point of sale and menu labelling. More studies are needed to evaluate financial, environmental, and dietary outcomes.

Replacement of Meat with Non-Meat Protein Sources: A Review of the Drivers and Inhibitors in Developed Countries

The overconsumption of meat has been charged with contributing to poor health and environmental degradation. Replacing meat with non-meat protein sources is one strategy advocated to reduce meat intake. This narrative review aims to identify the drivers and inhibitors underlying replacing meat with non-meat protein sources in omnivores and flexitarians in developed countries. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus and Web of Science until April 2021. In total, twenty-three studies were included in this review examining personal, socio-cultural, and external factors. Factors including female gender, information on health and the environment, and lower price may act as drivers to replacing meat with non-meat protein sources. Factors including male gender, meat attachment, food neophobia, and lower situational appropriateness of consuming non-meat protein sources may act as inhibitors. Research is needed to establish the relevance of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, health status, food environment, and cooking skills. Future studies should prioritize standardizing the definitions of meat and non-meat protein replacements and examining factors across different consumer segments and types of non-meat protein sources. Thereby, the factors determining the replacement of meat with non-meat protein sources can be better elucidated, thus, facilitating the transition to a healthier and more sustainable diet.