> Not eating a burger frequently implies an idealogical motivation?
No, but seeking out one of these plant-burgers over real meat probably does.
It might be an ideology like "I care a lot about climate change," but I think it's unusual for people to make food choices ideologically like that; especially independently, outside of something like a religious group.
I think that puts a limit on the adoption of these substitutes. The vegetarians, vegans, and some other ideologicals will quickly jump on board. After that it will get a lot harder to sell these things.
>> Not eating a burger frequently implies an idealogical motivation?
>No, but seeking out one of these plant-burgers over real meat probably does.
I'm not the person you're replying to but I don't see how that follows - wouldn't you try something new on a menu and then keep ordering it if you liked it? To refuse to try something because it doesn't contain meat seems, to use your words, ideologically motivated.
Also let's get real here - we're talking about burger patties, the majority of which will be served by fast food joints like Burger King and McDonalds. Thin, made out of flavourless meat and cooked until they're choking hazard dry.
Idealogical motivation is such a deceptive phrase. We all have motivations. Motivations form a framework that we make decisions from. We like tastes, textures, new experiences (or not), etc, depending on who we are as a person.
Calling eating a plant meat "idealogical" like it's a bad thing is just pure deceptive rhetoric.
Right now beef is cheaper and better tasting. But vegan meat is tech. It's improving and getting cheaper. 3-5 years down the road it might be the more affordable option. Imagine burger chains offering you the same two burgers. You can't taste the difference but one is 50c cheaper and healthier.
How many people would choose the beef?
That's where the chasm will be crossed. Farming can't scale further but vegan beef is tech. There's a lot of efficiency that can be added to the process to reduce costs and improve taste/texture.
> But vegan meat is tech. 3-5 years down the road it might be the more affordable option.
Just like margarine.
> Imagine burger chains offering you the same two burgers. You can't taste the difference but one is 50c cheaper and healthier.
Key word: imagine, as in fantasy.
Honestly, I don't really see that happening, except at the very low end (e.g. swapping out a crap-quality McDonald's beef patty with some plant thing to save a nickle, but I'm not sure if even that would make any sense. IIRC, most of McDonald's beef comes from used-up diary cows (e.g. waste from other processes).
So far the price did go down and quality did improve but obviously it might hit a wall. I do feel that these are the type of processes that can be made more efficient at scale but that's a feeling from an external observer. Not an expert in the field.
OTOH the quality of meat is deteriorating due to industrial farming. Antibiotics, bad feed, etc. The quality vs. price problem goes both ways.
> No, but seeking out one of these plant-burgers over real meat probably does.
Where I am, they're roughly the same price as real meat, easier to keep frozen, and I don't appreciably notice the difference (they're definitely not meat, but they're much better than the previous generation of meat alternatives).
Separately, a lot of my friends are vegetarian or vegan, which makes them convenient when I'm having company. But I'm perfectly content with them myself, as someone who loves animal products otherwise.
Not eating a burger frequently implies an idealogical motivation?