After years of constant growth in supermarkets and specialty stores, the current financial uncertainty has people buying significantly fewer meat substitutes and organic products, NOS reports.
The popularity of meat substitutes in the Netherlands has skyrocketed in recent years, with sales increasing by 34 percent to 141 million euros in 2020, according to market researcher IRI. Now sales are down 5 percent. “And that while the prices have crept towards each other. Last year meat substitutes were still 30 percent more expensive than fresh meat and game and poultry, now that is 20 percent,” IRI researcher Sjanny van Beekveld said to NOS.
The turnover of organic products is also falling. According to market researcher GfK, specialty stores, particularly health food stores, are feeling a drop in turnover. Their turnover growth during the coronavirus pandemic has come to a halt. “Supermarkets are still barely showing a decline, but that could still come,” Norman Buysse of GfK said to NOS.
Roosmarijn Saat of the organic supermarket Gimsel in Rotterdam confirmed the decline in turnover. “During the corona crisis, everyone thought about their health, about conscious eating. Then we had the wind in our favor. Now people are mainly thinking of their wallets. We really notice that the sales have been under pressure since this summer,” she said to the broadcaster. “I think it’s sad. While we all feel the enormous urgency that our food system has to change.”
Agriculture organization LTO Nederland reported last week that farmers are already noticing that people are opting for cheap instead of sustainable when buying their food. “Farmers and horticulturists have been saying for years: you can’t go green if you’re in the red. More and more consumers are now also confronted with this in the supermarket. With the energy bill in mind, people are increasingly ignoring the nice, local product in favor of the cheaper option,” said LTO chairman Sjaak van der Tak.
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