A growing niche market driven by current consumer trends

 

 

 

 

While a growing number of people across all demographics are taking a greater interest in their own health and well-being, different perceptions of what truly promotes good health and longevity have emerged. Plant-based proteins and ingredients have been around for a long time, however it is not until in recent years, they have become the focal point of one of the most prominent food and health movements trending today. While plant-based proteins such as soy proteins have been applied in food products and meat for many years, increasing demand for nutrition and health purposes is now seen across a wide spectrum of food and nutritional products, having hitherto been the domain of dairy proteins.

A new 3A Business Consulting study “The Global Market for Plant Proteins 2017-2021 – Competition with Dairy” presents the data and trends covering the global market for plant-based proteins. In the report, the latest estimates on volume, application and prospective growth by key plant proteins as well as dairy proteins are analysed and presented. The main plant proteins covered in the report include proteins based on soy, wheat, pea, rice and potato, and dairy proteins covered include milk and whey protein concentrates and isolates as well as casein and caseinate. Furthermore, consumer trends, key players and investments in the plant-based industry are analysed.

 

Solid growth projected

Plant-based foods and beverages have been singled out as the number one food trend in 2018 with growing sales of existing products and many new products expected to be launched. In the US, Germany and the UK alone, more than 200 million consumers are so-called flexitarians, actively avoiding animal-based foods at least once per week. The continuous growth in the plant-based alternative market can also be viewed as an indicator of development in the plant-based protein space, where supply and demand are expected to grow significantly. In order to meet the growing demand for plant-based options, several players are expanding production and introducing new product offerings.

 

Soy protein remains the major plant protein in terms of volume usage in food with DowDuPont being the key supplier of high-end soy proteins. However, pea proteins are quickly becoming the flagship of the plant-based protein trend, exhibiting significant growth with current suppliers of pea proteins like Roquette, expanding production and other ingredient suppliers such as Cargill investing in production of pea protein.

 

Overall, the plant based protein market is forecast to grow up to 11% per annum towards 2021 depending on the ingredient type and for several ingredients, demand is estimated to exceed supply.

 

The report provides an overview of the current and expected future global market for plant based proteins and illustrates in which applications there is a head competition with dairy. It is global in scope and with the following headlines:

 

• Production of plant-based proteins and estimated volumes

• Key players and applications

• Consumer product trends

• New product launches with plant based proteins and dairy proteins per ingredient

• Outlook, supply and demand for plant based proteins towards 2021

• Assessment of competition between plant and dairy proteins

 

“Hopefully, the information and analysis contained in this report will provide the food and drinks industry, and the ingredient companies with an important navigational tool in their strategic planning process”, commented Tage Affertsholt, Managing Partner of 3A Business Consulting.

The report can be purchased for EUR 4,700. For more information, please contact: Tage Affertsholt – 3A Business Consulting, Tel: +45 70 21 00 98, E-mail: ta@3abc.dk, Web: www.3abc.dk