Opportunities and hurdles in plant-based

Plant-based products have exploded in popularity in recent years In the US, sales of plant-based food and drink are outpacing overall food growth fivefold and SPINS retail data from March 2020 shows that grocery sales of plant-based foods that directly replace animal products have grown 29% in the past two years to reach $5 billion 1 In Europe, the plant-based alternative market is predicted to be worth €7 5 billion by 2025, compared to €4 4 billion in 2019 2

Despite its current ‘on-trend’ status, the plant-based sector must overcome some significant hurdles before it becomes truly mainstream Mintel warns that many brands are at risk of failing to transform one-off, novelty-driven purchases into repeat purchases While 73% of French consumers enjoy experimenting with new meat substitutes, few of them buy meat substitutes regularly 3

To change this, brands should look to develop a wider range of products that target different eating occasions and use ingredients or processes that deliver new sensory experiences

The emergence of plant-based private label ranges, even from hard discounters such as Lidl, highlights the democratisation of the plant-based category However, affordability remains a major issue for many grocery shoppers; meat alternatives can cost twice as much as meat while plant-based milk is between two and four times the price of dairy milk 4 For flexitarian eaters who are not staunchly opposed to eating meat or dairy, this price difference is significant.

Despite the hurdles, opportunities within the plant-based sector are bright Sales are being driven by concerns for environmental sustainability and climate change – both long-term global challenges – and younger consumers put greater importance on making purchasing decisions informed by environmental concerns than older generations 5

A number of sub-category white spaces, such as cheese and seafood, mean product developers have ample space to innovate, and improvements in taste, texture and appearance in all sub-categories will likely win over greater numbers of flexitarian eaters in the future.