With the Green Deal Protein Shift on our plates, we want to improve the ratio of vegetable and animal protein sources in the Flemish people's consumption pattern. The Green Deal aims to achieve a ratio of 60% protein from vegetable products and 40% from animal products by 2030. In order to keep a finger on the pulse, there is a need for an accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive monitoring instrument. This report measures both protein intake and protein purchases by the Flemish population. For protein intake, we can see on the basis of the contribution that in 2023 the Fleming gets 41.3% from plant-based food products and 58.7% from animal-based food products. This is a slight improvement from the last food consumption survey of 2014 which found a ratio of 38.6% and 61.4% respectively. When broken down by diet type, we see that flexitarians, individuals who leave animal products to the left one or more days a week, achieve a ratio of 52.9% plant and 47.1% animal protein consumption. No conclusions can be drawn for vegetarians and vegans due to the small number of respondents. Looking at the weighted average of protein intake, women obtain proportionally slightly more protein from plant-based sources compared to men. The age group 25-40 year olds indicated that they consume proportionally the most protein from plant-based food products while over-65s get the most protein from animal-based food sources compared to the other age groups. Protein intake was calculated based on a food frequency questionnaire of 60 food categories and was administered to a representative sample of 1,000 Flemish people during May-June 2023.
For protein purchases, the evolution from 2016 to 2022 is charted. This shows that the ratio of vegetable to animal protein purchases remains relatively stable. It is worth taking a closer look at the vegetable core group. These are the products we focus on in the strategy and communication of the protein shift. The share of the vegetable core group is increasing to a limited extent, but it is relatively very small: 4% of total protein purchases in 2022. If we consider the food groups separately, we see that between 2016 and 2022, purchases of the core vegetable group grew by about 9%, the animal group decreased by -1.9% and the residual vegetable group remained stable (grams of protein per capita). This difference in evolution did not lead to a major change in the overall ratio of vegetable and animal protein purchases.Based on this monitor, we can conclude that in 2023 we are still relatively far from the Green Deal Protein Shift target on our plates. Regarding protein intake, we see a slightly positive evolution. We see some positive trends in the evolution of protein purchases, but these do not yet translate into a strong change in the overall ratio of vegetable to animal protein purchases. It remains to be seen whether these trends will continue in the coming years and whether this can indeed provide a solid step towards the objective.