How plant-based meat could see wider adoption in Singapore

Roughly four in 10 who haven’t tried plant-based meat are neutral about trying it in the next year.

Plant-based meat has yet to win over the taste buds of Singaporeans, with perceptions of the product still mixed.

The Good Food Institute Asia Pacific (GFI APAC) found that roughly 40% of Singaporeans who haven’t tried plant-based meat are neutral about trying it in the next year, whilst 9% are unlikely and 6% are very unlikely to do so.

Moreover, 8% of respondents who have tried plant-based meat indicated they will stop eating it, and 10% said they intend to eat less. Meanwhile, about half said they will also consume the same amount in the upcoming year.

A key factor in Singaporeans' reluctance to consume plant-based meat is affordability. 

According to the GFI APAC report, about five in 10 Singaporeans would eat more plant-based products if they were more affordable. 

Similarly, only 26% would consider it if it were 20% more expensive than conventional meat. However, if priced equally to conventional meat, 41% would be interested in buying plant-based products, and this interest jumps to 67% if the price is 20% cheaper.

Beyond cost, Singaporeans said they would be more open to plant-based meat if it had better taste (35%), was more nutritious (34%), tasted more like meat (29%), and was less processed (25%). 

If these issues were addressed, GFI APAC said the regular consumers would rise from 3% today to 40% who would eat it always or often. It, however, said that a majority would still not eat it regularly, with 7% saying they would eat it rarely or never, whilst 43% would consume it occasionally.