Replacing meat consumption with legumes in Sweden – a consumer analysis

Sammanfattning

Meat consumption is among the leading contributors to diet-related diseases and greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden, while legume consumption remains significantly below dietary recommendations. This study aimed to understand the beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors of adult consumers in Sweden regarding reducing meat consumption and increasing legume intake through a consumer survey. The survey collected responses from 398 eligible participants and investigated consumption frequencies of meat and legumes, beliefs and associations around both foods, and the factors that influence the consumers’ intentions to swap some of the meat in their diets with legumes. Ten criteria were assessed across multiple questions using a sevenpoint Likert scale. The criteria were derived from a multicriteria decision analysis framework to evaluate the integrated health, environmental, economic and social impacts of dietary substitutions, adapted to a consumer survey format by selecting criteria directly perceivable by consumers, and supplemented with additional criteria from previous Swedish consumer research. The criteria covered tastiness, ease of preparation, familiarity, social compatibility, affordability, accessibility, local production, environmental sustainability, healthiness, and body weight control. Statistical analyses were performed to assess the answers using non-parametric tests for ordinal data. The results from the survey reveal that swapping intentions are primarily driven by tastiness, healthiness, and accessibility, with tastiness being the highest rated criterion overall, and the only one receiving a score above 6 out of 7. Respondents already associate legumes with positive qualities such as healthiness, affordability, and environmental sustainability compared to meat, but these are not sufficient to overcome the perceived taste advantage of meat according to respondents. Social compatibility, which received the lowest score for respondents’ regular diets, showed a behavioral correlation with both meat and legume consumption frequencies, suggesting that it is an indirect driver of dietary behavior. Younger consumers were found to eat more legumes than older consumers, while men consumed significantly more meat than women. The findings suggest that effective interventions should prioritize improving the sensory appeal of legumes, increasing exposure to legumes through public settings, and reshaping consumer perceptions around both legumes and meat simultaneously.