Plant-based mince and meatballs are now on average 33% cheaper at Tesco than the meat versions, new research from the Good Food Institute Europe has found.
The think tank’s analysis comes amid rising costs for producers and customers caused by the war in the Middle East.
Meat prices have been steadily on the rise over the past 12 months, particularly driven by soaring beef prices.
The most recent analysis by AHDB showed average beef prices were 16.4% higher than a year before [12 weeks to 12 March] with lamb and pork up 9.2% and 1.7% respectively in the same time period.
The research from GFI showed plant-based mince sold at Tesco was on average 13% cheaper than beef mince, when comparing prices at Britain’s largest supermarket over January, February and March.
Tesco also reported in February that demand for plant-based mince had risen by nearly 25% in the past year, which GFI said suggested that price-conscious consumers may already be making the switch.
Plant-based meatballs are now 41% cheaper than beef, lamb and pork meatballs at Tesco, the research found, while plant-based mince is almost a third (29%) less expensive than the price of minced beef, lamb and pork.
However, beef burgers remain 9% cheaper than plant-based options.
At the same time, chicken prices are also expected to rise due to the increased cost of fertiliser, feed and heating chicken sheds thanks to the Iran war, GFI warned.
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