Environmental Footprint Reduction Through Hybrid Meat Products: A Consequential <scp>LCA</scp> of Chicken–Vegetable Substitution

ABSTRACT The environmental footprint associated with conventional meat production necessitates the development of strategies that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining consumer acceptance. Hybrid meat products, which partially replace animal‐derived ingredients with plant‐based components, represent a pragmatic transitional approach toward more sustainable diets. In the present study, 100% chicken breast and hybrid products containing 75%, 50%, and 25% chicken were compared. The study showed that ingredient composition is the primary driver of environmental performance in chicken‐based and hybrid meat formulations. Across all midpoint impact categories, burdens increased in an approximately linear manner with rising chicken content, indicating that impacts are governed by the animal‐derived fraction rather than non‐linear process effects or efficiency gains. Because all scenarios were harmonized to identical mass and energy equivalence, differences can be attributed directly to formulation. Climate change impact increased from 58.80 kg CO 2 ‐eq in the 25% chicken to 230.65 kg CO 2 ‐eq for 100% chicken. Similar scaling was observed across all assessed categories. High substitution levels yielded substantial mitigation.