Consumers who are vegan or vegetarian in the U.S. 2018, by age group

More and more consumers are adopting vegetarian and vegan diets in the United States. Where only 2.5 percent of Americans over the age of 50 consider themselves vegetarian, 7.5 percent of Millennials and Gen Z have given up meat. The same goes for veganism, where the younger generations have taken on the diet at nearly double the rate of older Americans.

Plant-based diets

A vegetarian diet is one which excludes the consumption of meat and in some cases animal-derived foods such as eggs and milk. A vegan diet is characterized by abstaining from the consumption of all animal products, which can extend to products like honey as well. People who adopt these diets do so for either ethical, dietary, environmental concerns, or a combination of all three. While there are health benefits attributed to these diets, primarily a lower incidence of heart disease, they must be carefully constructed in order to receive the nutrients that are normally ingested from animal products. A recent survey of Millennial American consumers showed that the purported health benefits of a meat-free diet was the main reason for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Plant-based food sales

Sales of plant-based foods experienced rapid growth in 2018. Compared to the previous year, plant-based meals sales grew by 28 percent and meat alternatives by 24 percent. The sales values of these categories were worth 210 million and 670 million dollars respectively. Milk alternatives are still the highest selling segment of plant-based foods, valued at 1.6 billion dollars in 2018.