Market potential of new plant‐based protein alternatives: Insights from four US consumer experiments

Abstract This article reports results from four studies determining the US market potential for plant‐based meat alternatives in different contexts and settings. The first study shows that a pair‐wise choice between beef and a plant‐based alternative was not significantly affected by the presence of nutrition facts panels or ingredient lists. A second study, framed as a food service meal choice, reveals that the introduction of a plant‐based burger has roughly the same effect on beef sales as does the presence of a chicken wrap. The final two studies estimate own‐ and cross‐price elasticities of retail demand. We find small cross‐price elasticities between plant‐based patties and ground beef. Each of the aforementioned results varies for regular meat consumers as compared to consumers who self‐identify with an alternative diet such as flexitarian, vegetarian, or vegan. Combined, this study increases understanding of the impact presented by plant‐based offerings in the US protein market.