*3.1. Hybrid Meat Products in the UK Market*

Table 2 shows a list of hybrid meat products launched in the UK with information on the brand, launch date, range, prices, availability and percentage of plant-based ingredients used in the formulation (where available). Hybrid meat products were launched in four UK supermarkets (Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Aldi) between 2017 and 2020. More details on each retailer launch are discussed here.

**Table 2.** The brand, launch date, range, prices, availability and % of plant-based ingredients used in hybrid meat products launched in the UK.



**Table 2.** *Cont*.

According to our search, in 2017 Aldi was the first UK retailer to launch an own-label hybrid meat product. The retailer launched the flexitarian "Full of Beans" chilled mince in 2017 [22] and a burger with haricot beans. Because of its flexitarian name, the burger attracted negative press and social media attention [23], and neither of the two products are currently available on the retailer's website. It is interesting to note that the plain red packaging used by Aldi did not convey any special message regarding the non-meat ingredients, it just highlighted the characteristics of the meat component "Scotch BBQ flexitarian burgers-reared to higher welfare standards from farms we know and trust".

Waitrose and Sainsbury's both launched their hybrid meat product ranges in 2018 (Table 2). Waitrose, a UK retailer targeting upper-middle class consumers, launched a range of 9 hybrid meat products with 20–50% vegetables in 2018 and at least 3 of them are still available for purchase on the retailer website today [24]. The sausages were developed "for shoppers looking to reduce their meat intake" and carry the green Waitrose 'Good Health' label, designed to make it easier for shoppers to make healthier choices. Sainsbury's in 2018 launched a range called "Love Meat and Veg". The range aimed to help consumers to reduce their meat-eating habits and explore the switch to a higher vegetable intake targeting flexitarians. They contain 50% meat and 50% vegetables and include the range shown in Table 2. However, on the Sainsbury's website, only Mediterranean Beef Meatballs seem to be currently available. Both of these retailers made the ranges look different from the meat versions and plant-based version, using colourful packaging with vegetables and attractive names and these are all factors that have been shown to affect food choice [4].

Tesco in 2019 introduced the "Meat & Veg" range [25] which comprises products made from beef or lamb. The retailer claims that this range "helps make scratch cooking easier, removing the need to buy vegetables separately to make the base of popular dishes such as bolognese, lasagne or meatballs" and "the range champions vegetables as flavour enhancers to provide sweetness to home-cooked dishes". The focus of these products seems to be on delivering convenience and flavour to consumers,

rather than highlighting the lower meat content or the health characteristics. All the products in the range are currently available to purchase on the Tesco website.

The last retailer to launch hybrid meat product is Marks and Spencer [26]. The range includes 3 products, and they have been formulated to deliver "1 of your 5 a day" per portion. Here the focus is on vegetables as healthy ingredients but also as flavourful compounds ("an easy way to your five a day" and "more veggies, more flavour").

A total of 4 private labels also launched hybrid meat products into the UK market between 2016 and 2017. These were ABP Food Group under the Debbie & Andrew's brand, Walkers Sausage Co. under the brand MOR sausages, Kerry under the brand The Crafty Carnivore and Finnerbrogue Artisan under the brand #Funky Flexitarian. Debbie & Andrew's launched the range "Flexilicious" in 2017 [27]. The flexilicious sausages consisted of 40% beef, 40% vegetables and legumes, 10% herbs and seasonings along with 10% gluten-free crumbs and water. They launched on Amazon Fresh, Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco, but they were not available for purchase when our search was conducted. MOR sausages launched in 2017 [28] and contained 52–60% meat and the inclusion of a variety of vegetables. Although the website suggests that MOR sausages are stocked in Tesco and Morrisons, these products were not found on the retailers' websites. Kerry's The Crafty Carnivore range of 2 sausages and Finnerbrogue Artisan's #Funky Flexitarian range of 4 sausages launched in 2016 were not successful either.

Finally, in the foodservice sector, 2 examples of hybrid meat products are available. Byron burger, a chain with 53 stores in the UK, launched the "Classic Flex" in 2018, made of 70% British beef and 30% mushrooms [29], however, this item is not on the current menu. In October 2019, Brew Dog launched a patty with 50% UK beef and 50% plant-based "Beyond Meat" [30], however, this was not on the online menu, and it was only offered as a "special" for the month of October.

In total, 38 hybrid meat products were launched in the UK in 2016–20, and 12 of these products seem to be still currently available for purchase [8]. These numbers should not surprise, as it is well known that most new foods fail in the market [31]. The most popular hybrid meat products launched onto the market were sausages, with 20 products launched, followed by meatballs with 7 launches, burgers with 6 launches and mince with 5 launches. The base meats used vary: beef and pork were the most popular (16 and 15 products respectively), followed by chicken (5 products) and lamb (2 products). The amount of meat to non-meat ingredient ratio changes widely, from 25% of vegetables, up to 50% of vegetables. The type of non-meat ingredients used also vary, and they are usually a blend of different spices, fruits and vegetables, however, mushrooms have also been used as an ingredient on their own, as mushrooms have been shown to be effective in maximising umami taste in meat formulations [32].

Interest in processed meat products with plant-based ingredients is increasing, with Mintel [12] reporting in a recent survey on 1678 consumers that on average 27% of processed meat buyers would be interested in buying processed meat products with added vegetables. This number increases to 35% for consumers who eat meatballs and to 31% for consumers who eat burgers.

However, looking at the launch dates and current availability in the market, this search shows that so far, attempts to bring to the market hybrid meat products have had mixed results. Some of the earlier launches did not seem to have managed to maintain a place in the market, and perhaps they might have been received with confusion or were not understood by consumers. The newer retailer launches by Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, carry a more targeted message to consumers [8]. Overall, it seems that the most recent launches do not mention flexitarianism and stress more the flavour, healthiness and convenience of these meat products, including messages such as "5-a-day", the convenience of having vegetables already in minced meat and the use of vegetables as flavour enhancers. For these new launches to be successful, it is important to codevelop and codesign new foods with consumers, and the new product development literature stresses the importance of incorporating consumer insights into the new product development process for foods [31].

#### *3.2. Consumer Attitudes and Evaluations in Hybrid Meat Reviews*

Table 3 shows all the adjectives identified and retrieved from the corpus of positive reviews and their semantic classification. As can be seen, consumers emphasised mostly the taste dimension of hybrid meat products. Taste is quite a subjective domain, but many of those who purchased the products evaluated them as tasty, delicious and spicy. These results are in accordance with those by Reed et al. [33], who found that in commercial food product reviews, taste-associated words were mentioned more than words associated with other factors such as price, food texture, customer service, nutrition or smell. After taste, there was a heavy use of general positive descriptors, which is not surprising given the positive scores. Interestingly, several consumers saw the products as healthier options (19 mentions in total), low in fat (mentioned in 3 reviews) and as a way to increase the intake of vegetables (mentioned in 7 reviews). It can therefore be deduced that the hybrid meat products are appreciated by consumers who are health conscious. This is an interesting finding related to hybrid meats, as traditional meat products in the literature have scored quite low in terms of perceived healthiness by consumers [34]. Consumers also seem to positively value the texture of the products and their quick and easy preparation at home. Processed meats can be a convenient type of food product [31] and Grunert [35] suggested that there might be a synergy between the desire for healthiness and the demand for convenience in functional food products.


**Table 3.** Semantic domains of adjectives in positive online reviews.

A total of 4 positive reviews included negative adjectives such as 'sceptical' and 'suspicious', but these were to emphasise consumers' initial suspicions which disappeared once the products were tasted. The following extracts are indicative of this stance:


These four reviews can be related to the concepts of willingness to try, change-seeking and consumer innovativeness as a way to relate to new foods [36], which in this case led to a positive outcome.

The top key terms revealed similar themes. The largest category was two-word combinations highlighting the healthiness of the products, with 19 mentions in total (see Table 4). Consumers seem to view hybrid meats as a healthy choice, as a way to reduce meat consumption and increase the intake of vegetables. The following extract from the corpus are indicative of this stance:



**Table 4.** Key terms in positive reviews.

The positive reviews indicate that hybrid meats might be seen as an opportunity to lower meat intake and increase vegetable intake while maintaining acceptable taste (as seen in Table 3). It has been reported in the literature that consumers are unwilling to compromise on taste when it comes to healthier food options [37], therefore, hybrid meat products should be designed to deliver both on taste and health.

The second most distinctive domain was that of novelty and positive surprise. Many consumers who took to the online forum to review the products emphasised that this was something new in their shopping basket almost treated as a form of experiment, which met the expectations:


These reviews highlight the interest of these consumers in purchasing something new and show how the differentiation strategy in these hybrid meat products were well received by consumers.

Consumers also emphasised that the sausages were enjoyed by the whole family, which made the hybrid meat products a convenient alternative.

In terms of the negative reviews, it is not surprising to find the category of negative descriptors as the most prominent ones (see Table 5). The dissatisfaction with the products seemed to be mostly due to a lack of taste and texture as evidenced with the use of adjectives such as 'flavourless', 'tasteless', 'bland', 'mushy' and 'dry'. It is therefore not necessarily the concept of hybridity itself but rather the specificity of the product's sensory quality that did not seem to match expectations. Consumers purchased the hybrid-meat products, which suggests that there was a willingness to try these new foods because they were perceived as healthy.


**Table 5.** Semantic domains of adjectives in negative online reviews.

However, the experience proved to be disappointing; the extracts below exemplify this trend in the negative online reviews:


The analysis of key terms confirms the dominant-negative experience of the taste and texture of the products in the negative online reviews (Table 6). Yet, because of the small sample under consideration (only 40 reviews), it is difficult to generalise from these results. Overall, we can say that both the positive and negative reviews on taste highlight the paramount importance of this sensory attribute.



It is worth pointing out the limitations of this study. The linguistic analyses were carried out on a limited sample of reviews, and further analysis should be conducted on a larger sample. The negative reviews were lower in number compared to the positive one. This could be because genuinely, most of the consumers who tried the products had a positive view on them, however, it is possible that consumers with negative views did not report them online. In addition, many who purchased

the hybrid meat products might have decided not to leave a review at all, therefore, the online product reviews we have gathered cannot be used on their own to make specific recommendations on these products.
