The plant-based food market in the US grew almost twice as fast as the total retail food market, which increased 15 percent in 2020 as COVID-19 shuttered restaurants and consumers stocked up on food amid lockdowns. 

Overall, the meat-free sector grew by 27 percent, bringing up the total US plant-based market value to US$7 billion. 

This upward momentum is presented among new data released by the Plant based Foods Association (PBFA) and The Good Food Institute (GFI), which details the double-digit trajectory of US retail sales of plant-based foods over the last year. 

Meanwhile, industry watchers looking east are observing a “quiet food revolution” in Asia, wher food giants Nestlé and Beyond Meat have recently spearheaded meatless production sites in Malaysia and China, respectively.

“The data tells us unequivocally that we are experiencing a fundamental shift as an ever-growing number of consumers are choosing foods that taste good and boost their health by incorporating plant-based foods into their diet,” says Julie Emmett, PBFA senior director of retail partnerships.

Plant-based food dollar sales are increasing faster than those of many conventional animal products, the report authors detail. “The plant-based category has evolved to the point that retailers can’t limit who they consider the plant-based shopper.”

Uniform growth across the board
GFI and PBFA found plant-based growth in dollar sales to be consistent across the US, with more than 25 percent growth in every national census region.

Fifty-seven percent of households now purchase plant-based foods, up from 53 percent in 2019. GFI and PBFA custom-refined the data to reflect only plant-based products that directly replac animal-based products.

The value of plant-based meat – the second-largest plant-based category – hit US$1.4 billion in 2020, with sales growing 45 percent, up from US$962 million in 2019. 

The plant-based meat category grew twice as fast as conventional meat and now accounts for 2.7 percent of retail packaged meat sales.

Eighteen percent of US households now purchase plant-based meat, up from 14 percent in 2019. And consumers are coming back for more, with 63 percent of shoppers identified as “high-repeat” customers.

Refrigerated plant-based meat sales grew 75 percent in 2020, with products increasingly shelved adjacent to conventional meat.

This placement in the meat section helped propel growth in the segment, with refrigerated plant-based meat sales increasing more than twice as fast as frozen plant-based meat sales, which grew 30 percent in 2020 – 10 times faster than in 2019.

Dairy alternatives hit US$2.4 billion
The largest plant-based category of dairy alternatives, plant-based milk, has reached US$2.5 billion and accounts for 35 percent of the total plant-based food market.

Milk alternatives grew twice as fast as cow’s milk and are now purchased by 39 percent of US households, according to the PBFA and GFI data. Even as the most developed category, plant-based milk grew 20 percent in dollar sales, up from 5 percent in 2019.

Almond milk remains the category leader and accounts for about two-thirds of plant-based milk dollar sales.

Oat milk catapulted to the second-leading segment, ahead of soy milk, with sales more than tripling in 2020 and growing 25-fold since 2018. Banking on this trend, Oatly has recently announced plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO).

Plant-based product share of all conventional categories is increasing, with plant-based milk now making up 15 percent of the milk category, plant-based butter making up 7 percent of the butter category and plant-based creamer making up 6 percent of the creamer category.

While plant-based milk boasts a significant share of milk sales in all stores at 15 percent, it constitutes an even greater share of milk sales in natural food stores at 45 percent, the analysts note. 

Alt-dairy category diversifies
The success of plant-based milk has laid the groundwork for major increases in sales of other plant-based dairy products, which are collectively approaching US$2 billion.

In 2020, plant-based yogurt grew 20 percent, almost seven times the rate of conventional yogurt; plant-based cheese grew 42 percent, almost twice the rate of conventional cheese; and plant-based eggs grew 168 percent, almost 10 times the rate of conventional eggs.

Meanwhile, the plant-based egg category grew more than 700 percent from 2018, 100 times the rate of conventional eggs.

“Quiet food revolution” in Asia
As plant-based trends reach global phenomenon status, Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trends report saw a renewal of 2020’s “Plant-based Revolution” trend. As a natural progression, this year’s “Plant-Forward” theme spotlights expansion to different regions and categories in 2021.

The movement has already swept across global markets. With production for plant-based food now online in China as well as Malaysia, Nestlé is now looking to help lead what it calls the “quiet food revolution” happening in Asia.

The Swiss food giant has recently doubled down on its plans to champion plant-based food in Asia with the inauguration of a production site for plant-based burgers, schnitzels, mince and more in Shah Alam, Malaysia.

The new facility has the capacity to produce 8,000 tons of plant-based food a year and will supply both foodservice and retail with the new Harvest Gourmet brand.

Similarly, Beyond Meat has recently inaugurated its new manufacturing facility in the Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ) near Shanghai, China.

As the meatless heavyweight’s first end-to-end manufacturing facility outside the US, the plant is designed to serve China’s ballooning plant-based meat market. It will produce Beyond Meat’s range of plant-based pork, beef and poultry products, including Beyond Pork, the companys first innovation created specifically for the Chinese market.

“2020 was a breakout year for plant-based foods across the store,” says GFI research analyst Kyle Gaan.

“The incredible growth we saw in plant-based foods overall, particularly plant-based meat, surpassed our expectations and is a clear sign of wher consumer appetites are heading.”