Plant-Based Product Claims Grew 62% in Recent Years, Innova Market Insights Says

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There has been a 62% CAGR increase in plant-based product claims globally between 2013-2017, reports Innova Market Insights. These claims are appearing on everything from plant proteins, sweeteners, herbs, seasonings, and even food coloring. Plant-based innovations are growing, as is consumer interest in plant-derived ingredients, the market researcher reports.

The dairy-alternatives market is where a lot of plant-based activity is emerging, “with the growing availability and promotion of plant-based options to traditional dairy lines, specifically milk beverages, and cultured products such as yogurt, frozen desserts, and ice cream,” says Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova, in a press release. Innova says that one in three U.S. consumers said, in Innova’s consumer research, that they increased their consumption of plant-based milk or yogurt during the two years ending in December 2017.

Sales of dairy-alternative drinks should reach $16.3 billion globally in 2018, Innova reports. In 2017, dairy-alternative drink launches accounted for over 8% of global dairy launches-a 7% growth over 2016, Innova reports. “Actual global launches have more than doubled over a five-year period,” it adds.

Spoonable non-dairy yogurt is also a promising category, Innova says. Although this is a smaller sector of the market, non-dairy yogurt sales saw strong growth of 48% CAGR in 2013-2017. Ultimately, this means spoonable non-dairy yogurt launches accounted for (a still modest) 1.5% of total dairy launches in 2017.

In the meat-substitutes market, plant-based sales are predicted to grow globally to $4.2 billion by 2022. “The range of ingredients used for meat substitutes includes vegetables and grains, as well as traditional sources such as soy and specialist-manufactured brands such as Quorn and Valess,” Williams says.

Looking forward overall, Williams says, “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. 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.”

Innova says it will be discussing these trends and numbers at its booth (#S0460) during next week’s Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Chicago.