It’s no secret that the plant-based food and beverage alternatives market has skyrocketed over the past couple of years. In fact, 2019 was named The Year of the Vegan by The Economist, and Nielsen reported that vegan meat sales jumped by a massive 13.5% in the past year. In August, the Global Plant-Based Food & Beverage Alternatives Market Forecast, 2019-2024 by BIS Research has projected that the plant-based alternatives market will grow at a significant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.82% during the forecast period. While there are multiple factors involved in the growth, such as investments by giants in the food and beverage industry, an increasingly health-conscious population, and concerns over animal welfare and the environment are factors that have contributed to the growth of plant-based foods and beverages, the report showed that market growth has been majorly driven by the rise of the flexitarian consumer and the increase of vegan and vegetarian consumers. The report stated, “With the increasing pressure among the food manufacturers to meet the food demand and adoption of modern healthy food trends among the consumers, the demand for plant-based food products has increased rapidly. Currently, plant-based food and beverages are in a relatively primary stage of their lifecycle however, with the ongoing investments and new product developments, the demand for plant proteins is likely to increase manifold.” The analysis broke the plant-based food and beverage alternatives market into sections based on the product type. Of the segments, plant-based dairy dominated the global market in 2018 and is expected to maintain its position throughout the forecast period of 2019-2024. The numbers don’t lie; the future truly is vegan.
