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Over the past several years, plant-based foods have surged tremendously in the market. Just this past spring, Beyond Meat’s market debut was the most successful since 2000. As consumers around the world opt out of animal-based products and into plant-based alternatives, businesses move with them.
In fact, over the past decade, plant-based food companies have made over $16 billion from these consumer changes- including $13 billion just from 2017 and 2018 alone!
And everyone wants a piece of the vegan pie, including some of the biggest food companies in the world. This past spring, Burger King began offering the Impossible Whopper, which is so popular that Impossible Foods can barely keep up with demand. In that same month, McDonalds Germany, Taco Bell, QDOBA, and other fast food chains rolled out with new and impressive vegan options. Nestle is also launching its latest veggie burger later this summer, which could end up being a game-changer for the industry if it goes well.
Supermarkets have also joined the plant-based bandwagon. Ikea, for example, made eco-headlines when it launched its veggie dog, and since then has also added meatballs.
Tesco’s newest line, however, is by far the most ambitious. The UK supermarket giant- which currently supplies about one-third of all groceries sold in the UK- in a recent meeting decided to expand its vegan options significantly. The supermarket launched its first vegan line called Wicked Kitchen in 2018, which features 30 different plant-based options. The range of options was so successful that Tesco reports selling 4 million meals in just 33 weeks! Due to the immense success of Wicked Kitchen, the company recently decided to open a new line called Plant Chef, which will include another 250 vegan options.
In addition to more plant-based products on the shelves, there are also 11 new companies developing cell meat (also known as lab meat or clean meat) - bringing the total to 27 enterprises that have been publically announced in this field.
What is so incredible about this market change is that it was brought about entirely by the people. What began as a tiny niche of vegans has now exploded into an international movement. Whether people are opting out of animal agriculture for environmental, health, or ethical reasons- they are doing so in large numbers, and they are moving the economy with them.
So whoever said that one person couldn’t change the world - let’s discuss that over an Impossible Whopper and oat latte.
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