Women eat less meat and pay more attention to animal welfare

Debora Pape

8/12/2025

Translation: machine translated

The 2025 Nutrition Report for Germany shows that the flexitarian diet is becoming increasingly important. Animal welfare is often cited as a reason for this - but species-appropriate animal husbandry has lost importance for many people.

What is important to people when cooking and eating? What ends up on their plates, where does the food come from and how much can it cost? In Germany, the annual nutrition report compiled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs (BMLEH) has been providing information on these questions since 2015. The edition for 2025 has now been published.

One of the aspects analysed is the consumption of meat and animal products. I took a look at what the report has to say on this topic.

Women and younger people are more likely to avoid meat

Plant-based products are becoming increasingly important, the document states. This is mainly due to the 37 per cent of people who follow a flexitarian diet. Although they do not completely reject meat, they mostly consciously avoid it. Seven per cent eat a vegetarian (i.e. meat-free) diet, while two per cent of respondents eat an exclusively plant-based (vegan) diet.

There are significant differences between the sexes and age groups. Women are much more likely to prefer a largely meat-free lifestyle: 43 per cent describe themselves as flexitarians (men: 31 per cent) and nine per cent as vegetarians (men: four per cent). The report does not provide any information on the gender distribution of vegans. 32 per cent of the men surveyed stated that they eat meat or sausage at least once a day. This figure is only 17 per cent for women. Together, this amounts to 24 per cent - this overall proportion has fallen significantly since 2015 (34 per cent).

The report states that the group of youngest respondents aged between 14 and 29 is significantly more likely to eat vegetarian or plant-based food: the proportion is 20 per cent (compared to 9 per cent overall). When it comes to giving up meat and other animal products, animal welfare (86 per cent) and climate protection (81 per cent) are the most important factors. Taste, on the other hand, is not quite as important. This reason was given by 77 out of 100 respondents.

Plant-based alternatives and animal welfare as reasons to buy

Substitute products help many people to avoid meat and dairy products. In addition to meat substitutes made from pea or soya protein, these include plant-based drinks made from oats, coconut or soya. 34 per cent of respondents had consciously bought a plant-based substitute product more than once in 2025. In 2024, the figure was 39 per cent, but compared to previous years since 2020 (29 per cent), the figure is still higher.

Milk alternatives are very popular among these 34 per cent who buy substitute products: 85 per cent buy them. Meat substitutes are not quite as popular at 72 per cent. However, it is interesting to note that cheese substitutes are rising in favour among consumers: 40 per cent have bought a cheese alternative. Cheese is considered particularly difficult to replace because the flavour of cheese made from milk can hardly be imitated. In 2020, only 27 per cent of substitute product buyers bought cheese alternatives. Unfortunately, the report does not state the proportion of those who have only tried cheese alternatives once.

There are major differences between the age groups when it comes to the reasons for buying plant-based alternatives. In the youngest group, animal welfare comes first with 79 per cent. This is followed by curiosity - i.e. testing out products - as well as climate and environmental protection with 76 per cent each, and finally taste with 75 per cent.

Animal welfare plays a much less important role among 30 to 44-year-old consumers of alternative products, at 60 per cent. Animal welfare is the least important issue for 45 to 59-year-olds at 40 per cent, rising slightly again from the age of 60 to 55 per cent.

The importance of animal welfare on the packaging

Information on animal welfare conditions is also at the top of the list of the most important information on food packaging. 81 per cent of buyers of animal products consider this information to be important

77 per cent of these customers state that they pay attention to the way animals are kept when buying food.

However, only 59 per cent of consumers expect animals to be kept in a species-appropriate manner. This figure has fallen significantly from 70 per cent in 2016. Here, too, there are differences between men and women: Only 47 per cent of men expect farms to keep animals in a species-appropriate manner in 2025. This compares to 70 per cent of women.

In general, the most important thing for people is that their food tastes good. This finding is hardly surprising: 98 per cent of all respondents agree with it. 90 per cent pay attention to healthy food, 57 per cent say that meals should be quick and easy to prepare and 36 per cent value low-calorie food.

Debora Pape

Editor

Debora.Pape@galaxus.de

Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.

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