Did plant-based meat really replace meat? ... 96% of purchasing households also bought meat.

Is plant-based meat substitute truly replacing meat as its name suggests? Actual purchasing data from U.S. consumers indicates that the majority of purchases involve buying animal-based meat along with plant-based alternatives.

According to an analysis of 2025 U.S. retail market data from market research firm SPINS by the U.S. non-profit organization Good Food Institute (GFI), households that purchased plant-based meat substitutes and seafood96%I also bought regular meat.

When buying 11.7 pieces of plant-based meat, you buy 80 pieces of regular meat.

There was also a significant difference in purchase volume. According to GFI, households purchasing plant-based meat and seafood alternatives bought 11.7 products in an average of about 6 purchases per year in 2025. In contrast, the same households purchased regular meat an average of 33 times per year, with a purchase volume of 80 items.

Even among consumers who have purchased plant-based meat substitutes, regular meat significantly outperforms them in terms of actual purchase frequency and quantity.

Purchased by 11% of U.S. households… Market size approximately $1 billion

The consumption base for plant-based foods themselves is broad. By 2025, 60% of U.S. households had purchased plant-based foods at least once, and 78% of them repurchased items from the same category. The total U.S. plant-based food retail market was estimated at $7.9 billion.

However, when narrowing the scope to plant-based meat and seafood alternatives, the purchasing household ratio was 11%. The market size was approximately $1 billion, and in 2025, sales revenue decreased by 10% and sales volume by 11% compared to the previous year.

Sales of regular meat increase… sales of alternative meat decrease

During the same period, sales of regular meat and seafood increased by 5% and sales volume by 1%. On the other hand, sales of plant-based meat and seafood decreased by 10% and sales volume by 11%, respectively.

The household penetration rate of plant-based meat and seafood alternatives has also decreased compared to the past. GFI analyzed that the percentage of purchasing households dropped from approximately 20% in 2021 to 11% in 2025. However, the repeat purchase rate of buyers in 2025 was recorded at 62%.

Price and taste remain challenges for market expansion.

GFI identified taste and price as the major challenges for the plant-based meat alternative market. Research revealed that taste is a key consideration for consumers when purchasing new plant-based meat alternative products, while price accessibility was also analyzed as a key condition for expanding purchases.

What is confirmed by the 2025 purchasing data is that the purchase of plant-based meat alternatives and animal-based meat is not mutually exclusive. Most households purchasing plant-based meat alternatives also purchased regular meat, and in terms of actual purchase volume and frequency, regular meat was higher than plant-based meat alternatives.

However, this data aggregates actual purchasing behavior and does not represent the result of a direct investigation into consumers' reasons for purchasing plant-based meat alternatives or their dietary identities. Therefore, it is not possible to determine solely from this data whether individual consumers purchased plant-based products to reduce their meat consumption.