Plant-Based Food and Beverage Market Increased 62% Since 2013
A new market report has shown that the number of new plant-based food and beverage products worldwide increased 62 percent between 2013 and 2017.
“Growing consumer interest in health, sustainability and ethics is driving plant-derived ingredients and products into high popularity,” writes FoodBev of the market report, which was released by Innova Market Insights.
Categories of plant-based products that showed particular growth included meat substitutes, which Innova predicted would grow to $4.2 billion by 2022, and dairy alternatives including plant-based milks and yogurts, the former of which the report estimates will reach $16.3 billion this year.
“In the move to offer something new, we are starting to see an increasing variety of non-soy, plant-based ingredients, including cereals such as rice, oats and barley,” said Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. “We also noticed an increase in nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts and macadamias, as well as coconut and more unusual options such as lupin, hemp and flaxseed.”
According to the report, 33 percent of Americans increased their consumption of plant-based dairy products between 2015 and 2017, and 40 percent of U.S. consumers increased their consumption of plant-based alternatives overall in the past year.
This is in line with market growth noted by other research, including a recent report from the FAIRR initiative that estimated that the plant-based protein market could reach $5.2 billion by 2020, thanks in part to specific pledges and goals from companies like M&S, Nestlé, and Unilever.
A February market report estimated that the substitutes market would reach $4.63 billion this year, rising to a projected $6.43 billion by 2023, with tofu and tofu-based products accounting for the largest share of last year’s market.
The health benefits of a plant-based diet have been highlighted by numerous studies, including recent data presented at Nutrition 2018. The research linked plant-based diets to lowered risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, and weight gain.
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