Per capita meat consumption in Switzerland has been rather consistent for decades, although the percentage of vegetarians has risen to 14 per cent according to a recent survey

Mann, S. and Necula, R. (2020), "Are vegetarianism and veganism just half the story? Empirical insights from Switzerland", British Food Journal, Mar 2020. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-07-2019-0499

Abstract
Purpose: Per capita meat consumption in Switzerland has been rather consistent for decades, although the percentage of vegetarians has risen to 14 per cent according to a recent survey. This study tries to resolve this apparent contradiction

Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on household consumption data from Switzerland and focuses on the distribution of consumption rather than on average amounts, using descriptive statistics and a mixed-effects model which explains the coefficient of variation between single consumer consumption amounts.

Findings: Vegetarianism and veganism are not only overestimated through surveys but also associated with a segment of the population that is consuming increasing amounts of meat. This dual development leads to a stable per capita meat consumption.

Originality/value: Our results indicate that greater scientific attention should be paid to this segment of heavy meat eaters.