Understanding barriers to consumption of plant-based foods and beverages: insights from sensory and consumer science

Plant-Based Meat Alternatives: Technological, Nutritional, Environmental, Market, and Social Challenges and Opportunities

“…In the realm of meat alternatives, despite technological innovations and efforts to design processed plant-based products from different sources, one of the main challenges in successfully replacing animal prom ducts with plant-based ingredients is the re-creation of similar meat sensory properties. Moreover, communication about these new products and individual attributes (e.g., attitude and demographics) should be taken into consideration during the marketing stage—especially in those countries where meat and meat-based products have a key role in consumers’ minds, in terms of habits, culinary traditions, and culture [ 5 , 51 ]. Therefore, both sensory and consumer science can play an important role in understanding how consumers perceive PBMAs, including drivers of and barriers to their acceptance.…”

“…As mentioned above, until a few years ago, the first generation of these products was mostly designed for vegetarians and vegans [ 55 , 57 , 58 ]. To achieve acceptability by a wider audience of meat eaters, the new generation of PBMAs shall be developed in a way that texture, appearance, aroma, and taste resemble those of equivalent authentic meat products, before, during, and after cooking [ 5 , 57 ]. Yet, reproducing the complex and delicate sensory profile of farmed meat can be challenging [ 14 , 59 ].…”

“…Indeed, after a brief excursus on the formulation and production technology of PBMAs (i), the review addresses their nutritional profiles and their potential impacts on health (ii) and the environment (iii), as well as consumers’ choices (iv) and the state of the market (v). Each of the five sections will provide a sketch of the state of affairs, and overall, this article aims to add to other recent reviews [ 4 , 5 ] by critically assessing recent studies from different disciplines in order to highlight the consensus and controversies on this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective.…”

Emerging trends in the agri-food sector: Digitalisation and shift to plant-based diets

“…Consequently, all actors within the food supply chain (e.g., manufacturers and retailers), as well as policy makers, and non-profit organizations are looking for innovative solutions to render the food system more sustainable and resilient. This has been backed by increasing consumers' awareness about the relatedness among their dietary habits, health, nutrition, and sustainability ( Augustin and Cole, 2022 ; Giacalone et al, 2022 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). Plenty of food trends have emerged or re-emerged in the last few years reaffirming the evolving attitude of consumers to rethink underpinning the convergence of health and the environment ( Baker et al, 2022 ; Fiorentini et al, 2020 ; Hassoun et al, 2022a ; Siegrist and Hartmann, 2020 ).…”

“…In the frame of the transition towards plant-based diets, non-animal alternatives to meat, fish, egg and dairy are on the rise globally due to ethical, environmental, and health concerns. Nevertheless, the off-flavour of plant-based ingredients/foods, the lack of animal-like experience, and consumer attitude (e.g., meat lovers and neophobic eaters) are holding back this new segment to go mainstream ( Bryant, 2022 ; Giacalone et al, 2022 ; Ishaq et al, 2022 ). For this reason, a lot of investments are flowing into plant-based research institutes and companies to find solutions.…”