Evaluation of a plant-based meal campaign in workplace cafeterias. An interrupted time series analysis

Abstract

Choice and consumption of food is affected by a range of factors and dietary choices can change over time at both an individual and population level. One behaviour to have changed over the last few years is the purchasing of plant-based foods. UK sales of meat-free and plant-based dairy products have roughly doubled between 2016 and 2020 and in 2020 were worth close to £600m each (Glotz, 2021; Wunsch, 2021). Food Standards Agency (FSA) data from 2022 found that 32% of respondents reported eating meat alternatives in the past, although the majority (66%) are not eating them frequently (Armstrong et al, 2022). Reflecting this, the consumption of red meat and pre-cooked meat has gradually fallen (Fuller et al., 2019). In 2021, 41% of respondents in an FSA survey said that they would like to eat less meat (Heard and Bogdan, 2021) In the context of increased sales of plant-based foods, the study aimed to identify the impact of an annual plant-based meal campaign- ‘Plant-Forward’- conducted in cafeterias serviced by a large UK catering company. The campaign sought to influence consumer food choices by: 1) increasing the availability of plant-based meals to customers in a workplace cafeteria and 2) making plant-based meals more salient and attractive to consumers by using promotional materials. This included claims regarding health and sustainability of plant-based foods in general and newly-launched plant-based meals. The study also aimed to determine the duration and speed of the deterioration of any significant treatment effect identified. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate such campaigns which look at immediate as well as long-term effects in a cafeteria setting.