Consumer spending patterns for plant-based meat alternatives

This paper uses Nielsen Homescan data from 2014 to 2019 to investigate consumer spending on plant-based meat alternative (PBMA) products. First, we measure determinants of different PBMA spending levels and summarize spending on PBMA and other food products. We then examine spending over time on PBMA and other food items when a household first purchases a PBMA product. A household spends USD 8 on PBMA products in the first month it purchases PBMA. PBMA spending, however, drops by over 75% in the months following this initial purchase. Spending on meat does not decrease in the first month these households purchase PBMA, though spending on dairy, deli, and dry grocery products does drop.