Last week we took a trip to Plant Based World Expo, the must-attend 100% plant-based event designed exclusively for foodservice and retail professionals, distributors, investors and manufacturers.
In 2020, sales of plant-based organic foods in the United Kingdom were valued at almost 305 million U.S. dollars. By 2026, this figure is expected to reach 548 million U.S. dollars. The boom in meat-free products has been expedited over the last two years by several factors including:
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Environmental and sustainability concerns such as greenhouse emissions the meat industry produces have driven the demand for alternatives that put less pressure on the earth. Consumers are very aware of the impact their choices make on the climate crisis and plant-based foods are widely acknowledged to have a smaller carbon footprint.
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The pandemic also fueled its growth, with health benefits of a plant-based diet becoming a high priority as changing attitudes towards food consumption evolved. Plant-based meals are often considered a lighter option, many have fewer calories and more vegetables and fibre, and with no cholesterol, it’s seen as a healthier alternative to animal products.
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The rise of the ‘flexitarian’ is seeing growing numbers of people lowering their meat intake due to the above factors. While the number of vegans and vegetarians has risen over recent years, it’s believed that flexitarian diets have played a significant role in the plant-based market’s expansion.
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For ethically minded consumers, eating a plant-based diet can relieve them of the guilt of participating in intensive factory farming, without compromising on taste and texture, as animal welfare is drastically improved by largely taking them out of the food production equation.
With so much innovation currently in supermarkets and on restaurant menus from challenger brands, as well as big-name favourites, here are some of the most exciting trends being brought to the veg(e)table:
Meet the no-meat trailblazers
Ipsos data reveals that 58% of British adults aged 16-75 now use plant-based meat alternatives in their diet. A big challenge in the market is getting the right taste and texture so that consumers can enjoy an authentic experience. It’s often questioned – and rightly so – why people with a vegan or plant-based lifestyle would want something that replicates meat so closely but as mentioned earlier, flexitarianism is a key contributor for the demand.
Meatless Farm is doing amazing things in the space, with everything from vegan mince, plant burgers, sausages, steaks, as well as a new line of ready meals and grab and go options. It’s recently partnered with cocktail restaurant The Alchemist to make its menu nearly 50% vegan.
For fans of world cuisines, we highly recommend Wicked Kitchen which takes inspiration from all over the globe to elevate vegetables from a side dish to the main attraction. With ready meals being repositioned as an alternative to takeaways or eating out as a way of adapting to the cost-of-living crisis, this brand is a great place to start.
Pitching itself as the ‘successor of meat’, Heura’s Mediterranean heritage is peppered across its beef, pork and chicken-free product lines for flavours that are new but familiar at the same time.
‘Sea’ what they did there?
Now that alternatives for animals are being well-catered for, we can see how plant-based seafood is going to be making waves over the next 12 months. This market is expected to reach $1.3bn globally, by 2031 at 42.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
The level of creativity we saw (and devoured) at the show made our jaws drop. How do you replicate the taste and mouthfeel of ‘faux fish’? Through the use of ingredients like pea protein, non-GM soy, mushrooms, jackfruit, as well as seaweed which is packed with Omega 3. Omni Foods really caught our attention with its ocean-friendly burgers, crab cakes and tuna. Verdino Green Foods’ Unfished range will also have consumers hooked on its impressive offering, which we reckon could fool even the staunchest fish eaters.
Milking the opportunity
Consumers have greater awareness of how animal welfare affects human health and plant milk is becoming mainstream, with research finding that 1 in 3 Brits drink a dairy alternative. While spending reached £394m on dairy-free options in 2020, the cow’s milk sector remains the bigger market with a value worth £3bn.
Oat milk has leap frogged almond as the most popular choice among UK consumers and racked up £149m in sales in 2020 but hempseed milk is set to gain rapid traction with growth expected at a CAGR of 13.2%. One to watch is Gaia’s Farming which launched its Hemp & Coco Chocolate M*lk in Lewis Hamilton’s plant-based restaurant chain, Neat Burger, earlier this year.
Scrambling for new innovation
With the UK avian flu crisis causing huge challenges at present, we imagine many brands will be soldiering on to develop egg-free equivalents. A liquid pea protein version is what no-egg egg brand Crack’d is offering and the unexpected format is likely to encourage similar thinking from others. We’re already fans of OGGS and we’re thrilled to see how well its Scrambled Oggs – made from chickpea protein and pourable from a bottle – is shaking up the industry.
Protein was once largely associated with fitness training and let’s face it, wasn’t very exciting but now humble veggies are having their well-deserved time in the spotlight and showing the world the versatility and undeniable health benefits, not to mention their eco-credentials.
So, what’s next for the plant-based market?
There is so much to be excited about and the things we tasted at the Plant Based World Expo – really pushed the boundaries of what can be done with the simplest ingredients. We were surprised and delighted by the amount of impressive, inventive and indulgent dishes we sampled, some of it was the best we’ve ever tasted from the meat-free sector.
Consumers are really driving the demand at a phenomenal rate and with the level and knowledge they’re armed with, brands have to make sure they are stepping into this arena for the right reasons. Authenticity is key as people can smell from a mile away when something fishy is going on. This leads us to ‘clean labelling’, which will be the next area of focus for plant-based food.
With concerns over ultra-processed foods on the rise, products using too many preservatives, stabilisers and other additives are already falling out of favour and plant-based options will gain more momentum with green goodness taking a larger piece of the pie.
