Revisit the EcoSystem meeting discussion about the future of alt protein, including the promising statistics and predictions, a deeper analysis of the market’s data and trends, and the current challenges the sector is facing. As summed up by John Baumgartner, Managing Director of Mizuho Group, “the industry is ahead of the game despite concerns.”

The buzz at Bridge2Food’s Summit Europe, 7-8 June 2023, was a strong indication that the plant-based sector is here to stay - for good. Although the future looks promising for alternative proteins, there is still room for growth and improvements to meet consumers needs and demands. A core mission of Bridge2Food is to bring together major players from all across the value chain, in order to work together to propel the sector, collaborate on innovations, and support each other through inevitable challenges that are being faced.

Tom Rees, Industry Manager at Euromonitor International, provided the Summit’s delegates an overview of the current state of the global market (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Global Retail Sales and Growth, 2017-22, of Alternative Protein Foods by category.

Although reports out of the USA in 2022 and early 2023 looked grim, potentially tarnishing and skewing the future of plant-based, it is clear these statements did not accurately represent the global alternative protein sector. Global retail sales continue to grow, with promising predictions for 2023. Plant-based milks continue to make up the largest portion of alternative protein food sales, while cheese alternatives see the biggest percentage growth year-on-year.

Where did the concerns about the plant-based sector come from? Looking at the data provided by Euromonitor in Figure 2, there was a change from positive growth in 2020 to negative growth of 1.5% in 2021 in the volume of retail sales of meat and seafood substitutes, followed by another small decline from 2021-22. This indicates the market is not growing exponentially, but it does not mean that plant-based meat sales have stopped. As for the rest of the world, there was about a 5% increase in sales between 2021-22.

Figure 2: Plant-Based Meat Sales in the USA versus the world.

According to Euromonitor, factors such as overhyped forecasts of the plant-based market, as well as inflation and the struggle to reach price-parity with the traditional counterparts, are impacting the sector’s growth. For more insight into these factors, refer to the EcoSystem discussion.

Taken together, what is needed to continue to support the plant-based sector and what challenges are the industry working to address?

The industry must meet consumers where they are, and work to get a larger percentage of consumers to be accepting of (some) plant-based foods in their diet. Jake McCammack, the Vice President of EMEA Protein at ADM, presented multiple ways to do this, including hybrid products, achieving price parity, providing superior nutrition, considering local and regional factors, and even down to the positioning of plant-based foods within grocery store shelves. The goal of ADM (and many companies in the plant-based sector) is to nudge consumers in this direction to make better decisions for themselves and the planet, but not to push them. Jake outlined 4 ways to drive “plant-forward nutrition”.

1. Expanding protein choices with new technologies and revolutionary scaling capabilities to make products that are more desirable, and accessible. Cell-cultured meat is predicted to grow tremendously in coming years, as more countries are approving these technologies. This is a huge win for sustainability and ethics.
2. Championing consumer adoption, with the goal to expand the target group that are willing to try and consume plant-based foods, including those made using novel ingredients and technologies. Increasing “craveability” by improving taste, sight, smell, and even sounds of plant-based products. Hybrid products can create a bridge - using a combination of either plant- and animal-based, or cell-cultured and plant-based ingredients, to provide comfort and familiarity. By positioning the alternative products on the same shelf as traditional foods in the grocery store, it may make it easier for consumers to integrate novel foods into their purchasing habits, and diet.
3. Building the bridge to better nutrition by using diverse, high-quality sources of protein. Consumers are looking for dense nutrition in plant-based products, but to be a desirable alternative, price parity must be reached. New technologies and partnerships within the sector were posed as a way to address the scalability issues, which must be addressed in order to keep prices down.
4. A tailored approach is needed, as there is no one-size fits all for protein consumption. Culture, trends, and preferences make for individual preference between regions and countries. By working with both local and regional availability of protein ingredients, this can help address supply chain and volatility issues.

With the alternative protein sector continuing to grow and improve, the future looks bright - as Anne Louise Nielsen (pictured above), the Summit Plenary Chair concluded “plant-based is taking off". An appropriate close to Summit Europe, which was hosted at the Fokker Terminal in The Hague, Netherlands - an old airplane hangar. When it comes to the future of this sector, the world is our plant-based oyster - an impressive feat achieved by food technology company, Cocuus, and presented on by Javier Zaratiegui, Chief Technology Officer. 

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