Over the past three years, the plant-based meat industry has undergone major upheaval. vibration reversal. Sales boomed in the early months of the pandemic as slaughterhouse closures were disrupted. conventional meat supply chains and shoppers began trying meatless burgers, sausages and seafood instead. Between 2018 and 2021, total sales of plant-based foods in the United States increased from $4.8 billion to $7.4 billion. with much of this growth driven in particular by plant-based meat.
But one new report Rising sales of vegan meat, dairy and seafood suggest enthusiasm for plant-based products may be slowing. An annual report from the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit organization specializing in alternative proteins, finds that dollar sales of plant-based meat and seafood in the United States fell 13% over the last two years. last years. The rise in prices of meat substitutes masks a much larger drop in unit sales over the same period: they fell by 26% between 2021 and 2023.
In the United States, one of the main challenges is the price of plant-based alternatives. In the United States, plant-based meats are on average 77 percent more expensive than their animal counterparts, and for inexpensive meat like chicken, that premium rises to more than 150 percent. Another problem is one that has haunted the industry for years: buyers are herbal products always find dull compared to alternatives of animal origin. “Many consumers reported that products did not yet meet their expectations in terms of taste, texture, and affordability,” the report’s authors write.
Although there is a lot of excitement about meat alternatives, plant-based milk remains by far the biggest seller when it comes to plant-based foods. Cow's milk alternatives like soy, oat and almond accounted for nearly 15 percent of total U.S. milk sales, while plant-based meat and seafood's share of their market is about 1 percent. Plant-based milks alone make up nearly a third of the entire plant-based food category in the United States, as defined by the Good Food Institute.
When adding up all other adjacent sectors, including plant-based butter, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese, U.S. sales of plant-based dairy alternatives were worth nearly $5 billion in 2023 . Sales of plant-based milk increased by $9. percent through 2021-2023, although unit sales declined by 10 percent during the same period. Total sales in the plant-based sector, according to the Good Food Institute, were $8.1 billion.
Plant-based meat lovers point out that people replacing beef burgers with plant-based patties would significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our diet. Animal protein is a major source of food emissions, with beef, lamb and dairy products contributing the highest emissions per year. kilogram of product. But with plant-based products meat sales are stagnatingIt's unclear whether the industry is having the impact on carbon emissions that many hope for.
The big brands in the sector are trying to get out of the quagmire. Earlier this year, Impossible Foods relaunched its line of alternatives with a new, meatier style, deliberately aimed at attracting “meat lovers” into the plant-based fold. In February, Beyond Meat launched the fourth generation version of its burger and ground beef, call them “our plumpest, juiciest products yet.”
Growing concerns about so-called ultra-processed foods have also shaken the plant-based meat industry, given the high amount of processing usually required to make its products. In response, Beyond's new burgers have less salt and saturated fat than the previous generation, as well as a “simplified ingredient list”, while many other plant-based companies emphasize their credentials “clean label”.
Whether this plant pivot succeeds or not, the stakes are high when it comes to the climate impact of our food. For now, it appears the plant-based revolution — at least in the United States — is off to a slower start than many hoped.