• For full details of graphics available/in preparation, see Menu -> Planners
News Sport
Graphic shows use of worldwideharvest, share used to feed livestock and projected global meat market value.
Responsive: View Mobile Version
GN39667EN
EN NL AR DE ES PT

BUSINESS

Plant-based burger arrives in Europe

By Duncan Mil

November 12, 2019 - Burger King has rolled out a meat-free alternative to its signature burger across Europe. In 2018, Europeans consumed more than 71kg of meat per capita, up from 65kg in 2000, according to OECD figures.

In one of the most significant product launches in its history, Burger King is offering its meat-free Rebel Whopper in more than 2,500 outlets in 25 countries across the continent. The Vegetarian Butcher, a Unilever-owned producer of plant-based alternative meat products, supplies the Rebel Whopper. The European launch follows the rollout of the Impossible Whopper in the United States.

Globally, the alt-meat market for cultured meat could grow from less than $14 billion today to be worth $140bn by 2029, according to Barclays. The analysts reckoned there was a more significant market opportunity for plant-based alternatives, boasting a combined market size to 28 per cent, or $390bn by 2030.

A study of the global agriculture, food, and meat industry by A T Kearney, a management consulting firm, concludes that nearly half of worldwide agricultural production is required to feed the livestock population. Just 37 per cent goes directly for human consumption.

Global population -- which was around 7.6 billion in 2018 -- is projected to increase to about 10 billion in 2050. A massive amount of food is required to sustain this many people.

The A T Kearney study points out that a plant-based diet could feed around twice as many humans with today’s global harvest if we did not feed livestock but rather consumed the yield ourselves.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 12/11/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Burger King
Advertisement