Two thirds of Australians classify themselves as meat eaters while almost a fifth (19 per cent) call themselves flexitarians primarily eating a plant-based diet, the latest YouGov Survey has found. For meat eaters, 59 per cent say taste is the main factor in deciding what to eat.
Across all diets, taste is the top consideration for consumers when deciding what to eat, and is the highest consideration among meat eaters – where three in five rank it as their most prioritised factor – compared to less than half of pescetarians, flexitarians and vegetarians/vegans.
How much a food costs is the next most significant consideration among all categories, followed by how healthy the food is. However, among flexitarians a larger proportion indicate health as a top consideration when deciding what to eat compared to price.
Alternative diets
Recent YouGov data revealed that only 6 per cent of consumers adopt a fully plant-based diet (i.e. vegetarian) that may exclude all animal products, such as eggs and milk (i.e. vegan).
Pescetarians, who eat seafood – but not meat from land animals – in addition to plant-based foods make up just 5 per cent of all Australian consumers.
Across generations, most consumers say they are meat eaters. But Baby Boomers are significantly more likely to, with three-quarters saying they regularly consume meat or poultry – while Millennials and Gen X are significantly less likely to – with less than three in five saying the same.
About one-quarter of Millennials and Gen X consider themselves flexitarians – a significantly higher proportion compared to an eighth of Gen Z and Baby Boomers. Meanwhile, younger consumers (Gen Z and Millennials) are more likely to adopt a fully plant-based vegetarian/vegan diet, compared to older generations (Gen X and Baby Boomers).
Across major states in Australia, at least three in five consumers say their meals regularly contain meat or poultry, with the flexitarian diet being the next most popular.
Notably, vegetarianism/veganism is significantly more popular in Victoria – where one in ten consumers have adopted a fully plant-based diet.
Australians’ favourite cuisines
Overall across diet types, Australian, Italian and Thai stand are the most favoured cuisines, followed by Chinese and Indian.
Italian is second most popular among pescetarians and flexitarians, and ranks among the top five among both meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans.
Thai comes in third among pescetarians, flexitarians, vegetarians/vegans, and fourth among meat eaters.
Chinese cuisine is most popular among meat eaters, but ranks fifth among pescatarians and further down the top ten most favourite cuisine among flexitarians and vegetarians/vegans.
Indian cuisine is most popular among vegetarians/vegans, but ranks fifth and seventh among meat eaters and flexitarians, and is not within the top ten among pescatarians.
Local food – Australian cuisine – proved to be most popular among pescetarians and flexitarians, and the second most popular among meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans.
Different tastes, different states
Across major states in Australia, at least three in five consumers say their meals regularly contain meat or poultry, with the flexitarian diet being the next most popular.
Notably, vegetarianism/veganism is significantly more popular in Victoria – where one in ten consumers have adopted a fully plant-based diet.
YouGov's study was conducted with a national sample of 1,039 Australian residents, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures were weighted by age, gender and region to be representative of all adults residing in Australia, and to reflect the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population estimates.
