The European Parliament voted today in favor of a highly controversial proposal. After months of campaigning, the vote passed overwhelmingly – 355 to 247—with a ban on using traditional meat names for plant-based products. The decision has been heavily discussed by all players in the retail and the meat game. It’s no wonder that Aldi, Lidl, Burger King and Rügenwalder Mühle have vigorously opposed the proposal. They say it might put a damper on an expanding plant-based economy.
Our counterparts in France’s meat industry have been vociferously against the proposal. They claim that plant-based products that employ meat lingo threaten the economic survival of the nation’s livestock producers. This concern comes from the legitimate fear that consumers will confuse plant-based alternatives for traditional meat products, harming their sales. The livestock sector sees the rapidly changing labeling practices as a direct affront to their long entrenched market.
Celine Imart, director of the initiative that developed the proposal, welcomed the decision with optimism. She noted this as an important first step for the protection of traditional food names. In stark opposition, naysayers from Germany—including influential leaders of the German food manufacturing sector—have lambasted the approved text as toothless. Germany, as the EU’s largest market for plant-based products, is under particular and deserved scrutiny over this terrible piece of legislation.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz supports the ban, reinforcing his position with a clear statement:
“A sausage is a sausage. Sausage is not vegan.” – Friedrich Merz
The proposal goes further than a similar effort in 2020 that failed to pass through Parliament. Worries continue that this latest regulation might limit innovations in the hit plant-based food sector, one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy. An increasing number of consumers are choosing plant-based diets, a fact that has resulted in huge boom to the market for substitutes.
Retailers and representatives of the food industry have reacted in fierce opposition. At the same time, Greens and liberal MEPs have described the jeopardised text as “useless,” claiming it fails to cater to consumer demand for plant-based alternatives. The Good Food Institute of Europe recently published a report highlighting the exponential growth of the plant-based food market, suggesting that consumer demand is shifting towards these alternatives.
The European People’s Party (EPP), under Chancellor Merz, is very much for the ban. They still refuse to back down, even when put to standoff. The continuing debate illustrates the chasm between industrial agriculture and the new age consumer. These consumers are voting with their dollars, they are showing a greater demand for sustainable and healthy choices.