Hybrid Meat Has Quietly Taken Over Dutch Supermarket Shelves
Hybrid meat is now stocked by virtually every Dutch supermarket, often cheaper and healthier than standard meat, but rarely labelled as such.
Meat products that combine animal and plant-based ingredients, commonly called hybrid products, have become firmly established in Dutch supermarkets, according to new research by Foodvalley, a Dutch food innovation organisation. A study of 115 products found that nearly every major supermarket chain now carries them, and that the category is expected to double in size within the next twelve months.
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What hybrid meat is
Hybrid meat products are standard meat preparations: think minced beef, hamburgers, rookworst or chipolata sausages, in which a portion of the meat has been replaced by plant-based ingredients. The most widely used ingredient is field bean protein, found in 47 percent of the products analysed. Sugar beet fibre, a by-product of the sugar industry, accounts for 20 percent. Other ingredients include seaweed, vegetables, potato, jackfruit, oyster mushrooms and mycoprotein, which is derived from fungi.
The concept is not entirely new. Until the 1990s it was common practice in the meat industry to add plant-based ingredients for texture and flavour. The current resurgence is driven by rising meat prices and retailers' desire to accelerate protein transition goals.
What the research found
Of the 115 products analysed, hybrid versions had a better Nutri-Score than their conventional equivalents in 35 percent of cases, and were cheaper in 60 percent of cases, with an average price saving of 4.4 percent.
Own-brand products with high turnover rates: minced meat, smoked sausage and hamburgers, are the most commonly hybridised products. Jumbo has the largest share of plant-enriched products among the major chains at 41 percent, followed by Albert Heijn at 28 percent and Lidl at 8 percent.
The quiet shelf
Despite the growth, most supermarkets are saying little about it. A striking pattern in the research was the "soft" communication strategy: many retailers mention the plant-based ingredients only in the mandatory ingredients list on the back of the packaging, rather than highlighting them on the front.
Jumbo has been explicit about this approach, saying it is done to make it easier for customers to participate in a more plant-based diet without putting them off. The logic is that consumers who would resist buying a clearly labelled plant-based product are more likely to accept a familiar-looking product that quietly contains less meat.
What comes next
Foodvalley expects the number of hybrid products in the meat section to roughly double within twelve months. Growth is also expected in dairy, particularly in quark, yoghurt and cheese. Researchers also anticipate new combinations of animal and plant-based ingredients being developed with the help of AI.
The Netherlands has a leading role in this segment internationally: around 30 Dutch production companies specialise in the plant-based enrichment of meat, fish or dairy. Foodvalley is announcing a new collaboration with the American Food System Innovations under the name "Balanced Proteins" to scale the category globally.
