60% of US Consumers Open to Cultivated Chicken, Beef, & Pork Despite Taste and Health Doubts, Finds Survey
Posted on July 10, 2024
A Consumer Food Insights survey, used by Purdue University to track consumer perceptions of cultivated meat, has found that around 60% of consumers are willing to try cultivated beef, chicken, and pork in restaurants, while around 30% are unwilling.
1,200 of the consumers surveyed were presented with a list including familiar animals, such as chicken, cow, and pig, as well as several exotic creatures.
They were asked to group the animals based on their willingness to try conventional and cultivated meat cuts in a professional restaurant setting, classifying them as either ‘willing to try’ or ‘not willing to try.’
Conventional vs cultivated
From all the animals listed, consumers were shown to be more willing to eat the animal-derived meat than cultivated meat, even in the case of exotic animals. The most attractive cultivated meats from the exotic list were octopus (31%), shark (29%), and ostrich (29%).
“The animal source seems to be more influential than the type of meat”
However, the majority, 60%, were said to be willing to try cultivated versions of chicken (67%), cow (65%), and pig (60%). Moreover, according to the figures, approximately 46% of those unwilling to try conventional chicken would try its cultivated version. Approximately 26% and 22% of those reluctant to try traditional cow and pig would try their cultivated versions, respectively.
“This shows that there may be a market for cultivated meat among a sizable portion (albeit small number) of consumers who or not willing to try conventional versions of these meats,” the authors note.
More work to be done with messaging
The survey shows that consumers perceive cultivated meat as less tasty and less healthy than conventional meat. For example, conventional beef and chicken scored higher on tastiness (4.4 and 4.2) than cultivated beef and chicken (2.7). Additionally, consumers appear to be more skeptical of the healthfulness of cultivated meats: conventional beef and chicken rated higher on healthfulness (3.4 and 4.2) than cultivated beef and chicken (2.6 and 2.9).
The authors say, “Somewhat surprisingly, we see a smaller difference in the average ratings between conventional and cultivated meats when asking consumers how exotic they perceive the meat to be. The animal source seems to be more influential than the type of meat.”