Many U.S. adults would like to eat more plant-based foods, but intentions don’t always line up with actions. And they still want to be able to eat traditional animal-derived products.
According to a survey from Wakefield Research conducted for Saputo Dairy USA, 42% of Americans have previously made a New Year’s resolution to eat more plant-based foods but didn’t stick to it. One-third (34%) of respondents expressed some interest in adopting a somewhat, but not entirely, vegan lifestyle — 18% said they’d be more open to it if they could make non-vegan exceptions.
More than two-thirds (68%) of Americans have tried a plant-based meat or dairy alternative, and 31% regularly substitute meat, cheese, or dairy with plant-based alternatives. Of those who haven’t tried plant-based products, the top two reasons are the assumption that the products will taste bad and skepticism about the benefits.
There is a pretty wide generational gap in enthusiasm for plant-based foods: 81% of Millennials have tried them, while only 57% of Boomers have. Adults with kids are more likely to try plant-based foods than those without kids (81% vs 61%), and males are more likely to incorporate these foods into their diets than females (73% to 63%). Overall, consumers are more likely to have tried plant-based meat (49%) and milk (46%) alternatives than to have tried plant-based cheese (30%).
