The price of meat in the UK, Germany and Spain has climbed sharply since the pandemic, widening the gap with plant proteins like beans and making meat alternatives a more affordable option.
Climate change, declining livestock numbers, and geopolitical conflicts are rapidly driving up meat prices, positioning plant-based eating as a more wallet-friendly dietary choice now.
Climate advocacy group Madre Brava’s analysis of Euromonitor data suggests that the cost of plant proteins, such as legumes and tofu, has not increased as dramatically as those of beef, pork, and chicken.
On average, meat prices have surged by 29% in Spain, 34% in Germany, and 42% in the UK since 2019. This has further deepened the chasm between meat and dried pulses (which have always been affordable protein sources) across all these countries.
Plant-based meat alternatives, for their part, are now €0.40 and £0.29 cheaper per kg than conventional processed meat in Germany and the UK, respectively, flipping the script from pre-pandemic levels, when they were €2.36 and £0.40 more expensive.
Even in Spain, where the market for these products is still developing, the price premium for vegan meat has narrowed from €3.10 to €2.41 in this period.
“As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, meat prices are likely to be pushed even higher, as we saw with the onset of war in Ukraine,” warned Madre Brava. “Plant proteins have consolidated their position as a cheap, healthy, sustainable protein source, providing a great buffer against food inflation.”
Even the cheapest meat products are more expensive than plant proteins
Beef has suffered from the largest price hikes since 2019, rising by 39% in Germany, 44% in Spain, and a whopping 56% in the UK. Even the most popular meat category saw a jump in markups: pork is 37% more expensive in Spain now, and poultry is 25% and 36% dearer in Germany and the UK, respectively.
This means the cheapest categories of meat in each country are now costlier than dried beans and lentils per kg. In Germany, poultry was €0.98 more expensive than legumes in 2019, and this nearly doubled to €1.83 in 2025.
Likewise, the price premium for poultry over dried legumes increased from €2.22 to €3.06 in Spain, and the gap between pork and pulses widened from £3.56 to £5.77 per kg.
The cost of plant proteins like tofu and tempeh has also risen more slowly than meat – tofu is 23% and 27% more expensive in Germany and the UK, respectively, than pre-pandemic levels, but its price has increased by less than 1% in Spain.
“The relentless rise of meat prices across Europe is not good news for people struggling to feed their families. And this is just the beginning of a new normal where prices will continue to rise because climate change, wars and the decline in livestock numbers are long-term trends,” said Nico Muzi, chief programme officer for Madre Brava.
The organisation explained that meat is vulnerable to price rises because it’s more resource-intensive, and livestock only retains a minority of the protein from feed. Heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and flooding are inhibiting feed crops, animal growth rates, and livestock health, and the Iran war could see food inflation reach 9% by the end of the year, tripling the pre-conflict forecast of 3.2%.
“The good news for consumers is that the price of healthy, sustainable proteins such as beans, lentils and tofu has not increased as much, so they’ve stayed relatively cheap. In this sense, they’re a buffer against meat price inflation,” said Muzi.
“They come with the benefit that they are often packed with fibre, which makes them a great way to tackle the serious fibre deficit we’re seeing in many European countries.”
Supermarkets can make money while easing food inflation for consumers
The report aligns with other analyses over the last year, showing that vegan diets are no longer the expensive choice they used to be.
In the UK, for instance, research by Green Alliance last year found that several plant-based alternatives are now priced the same as meat, and some are even cheaper, at Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket.
And last month, the Good Food Institute Europe reported that vegan mince and meatballs were 13% and 41% cheaper than their conventional counterparts at Tesco in Q1 2026. The retailer saw sales of meat-free mince jump by nearly 25% last year, alongside a 12% hike for tofu, tempeh and seitan.
In Germany, Lidl has been selling its private-label Vemondo plant-based products at prices that match or beat those of meat and dairy since 2023. In fact, a vegan shopping basket is now 5% more affordable than one with animal proteins in seven of its eight largest supermarkets, overturning a 16% price premium for the former in 2024.
The continued price shocks for meat present a opportunity for Europe’s supermarkets. Madre Brava is calling on them to support the protein transition by delivering a robust climate plan with clear Scope 3 emission-reduction targets. Currently, only 7 of Europe’s top 27 supermarkets have near-term roadmaps to cut emissions.
These strategies would need concrete, time-bound targets to rebalance protein sales in favour of plant-based options. By 2035, at least 33% of proteins sold by retailers must be plant-based, rising to 60% for all foods.
The report further highlighted the importance of implementing measures based on “the 4Ps”: price, product quality, placement and promotion. This means plant proteins should be sold at the same or a lower price, have their quality enhanced, be given more shelf space, and be prioritised in shopping deals.
“[Supermarkets] can make money and help their customers weather the cost-of-living crisis, while also getting more fibre, by committing to increasing the proportion of beans, lentils, tofu and plant-based meat alternatives they sell,” said Muzi.
