Climate concerns have whetted South Africa's appetite for plant-based burgers

In South Africa, where the all-day barbecue, the national pastime of "braai", plant-based food alternatives are surprisingly becoming more and more popular despite the deep cultural roots of meat consumption and the attitude of the regulatory authority does not seem overly supportive. The trend may be cause for optimism among climate scientists, who say that shifting diets away from high-carbon meat and dairy products toward plant-based foods is vital in the fight against climate change. The turnover of plant-based meat replacement products is growing by 6.5% annually, and according to Research and Markets, the value turnover of the category could reach 561 million dollars by 2023 - this is more than half of Africa's share of the global market, which by 2030 will be 162 billion the researchers bet on dollars. However, this is a fairly low percentage considering that South Africans spent $15 billion on meat products in 2018, and the country is currently the 9th largest consumer of ...