‘Veganuary’ has come and almost gone, but it reflects the changing tastes of younger consumers — which will create both challenges and opportunities for farmers, reports

KERRY TD Michael Healy Rae may believe that avoiding eating meat to help the world’s climate is “crazy” and “a fad”, but whatever your view on that particular issue, there’s no avoiding the fact that the Irish consumer’s relationship with food is changing.

The challenge for farmers and other food producers is assessing whether a particular food trend is indeed just a fad, or whether it indicates a change that is likely to accelerate.

So what are the issues likely to impact Ireland’s food scene in 2019 and beyond, and how are they likely to impact farmers?

PLANT-BASED EATING

As the marketing campaign for Veganuary draws to a close, it’s hard to ignore what seems like a move towards more plantbased eating. But just how pronounced a trend is this: is it just marketing guff or is there substance behind it?

The Bord Bia Dietary Lifestyle study published in late autumn last year surveyed 9,000 people across five markets and found that consumers are in fact making efforts to reduce meat intake, with an interesting move also taking place to towards purchasing higher-quality, higher-cost meat.

A lesser number of consum- ers are aiming to reduce dairy. However the value of sales of milk alternatives (soya, nut etc.) has risen by 19pc since 2012 in Ireland, according to Euromonitor.

Meanwhile, figures from Mintel Research show that ‘dairy-free’ and ‘vegan’ are the second- and third-fastest growing on-pack claim for new food and drink launches globally in the last five years.

“Our Dietary Lifestyle study also found that around 4.1pc of the population in Ireland are dietary vegans, equating to approximately 146,426 adults, while 4.3pc are vegetarians, which represents 153,569 adults,” said Grace Binchy, consumer insights specialist with Bord Bia.

“The study found that those subscribing to these diets often do so for health reasons, with four in ten in Ireland following these diets for physical health and seven in ten saying they are trying to eat more healthily.”

For farmers, this means that it’s time to recognise that consumers have a desire for food that comes in a more natural state. There is also a need to communicate the inherent health credentials of food, be it vegetable- or animal-based.

AGE-BASED PREFERENCES

While there are some trends in foods that have been going for some time and show no sign of stopping — consumers still want foods that are lower in fat, salt and sugar — there are some trends that can be specifically linked to the buying interests of younger people.

In particular, foods associated with the paleo and keto diets — both of which emphasise eating more protein and less carbohydrate — are continuing to sell well with people born in the 1980s and ’90s, known as millennials.

“These diets are trending heavily with people under 30 in urban areas. Increasingly you’ ll see products aimed at these groups in mainstream retailers, such as cauliflower rice and spiralised vegetables that can be used in place of pasta,” said Conor Hyde of Bullseye Food Marketing.

“With previous generations, we associate unhealthy behaviours like drinking pints and eating unhealthy takeaway food, but the younger people around today are quite different.