The vegan food industry’s boom continues: Research and Markets‘ latest forecasts predict that by 2027, it will reach a valuation of approximately $92 billion. Encouraging data highlights how the sector will grow annually by about 18.1% over the next four years, confirming the growing interest among people in vegan alternatives to animal-derived products and more conscious purchasing habits.
The growth of the vegan food industry: but what are the factors?
Research and Markets analysts suggest that interest in vegan food is driven by various reasons, from the health benefits of plant-based diets to the increasing support from the scientific community for a diet free of animal-derived foods.
Also, the desire to reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases and the ability to feed more people with fewer resources are factors affecting consumer choices. “People want to reduce the negative effects of the food system on the environment […] by producing meat from plants, fermentation, or cell cultivation,” reads the report, emphasizing the crucial link between choosing vegan and focusing on environmental and animal welfare.
“Vegan diets are the future of the food industry, just as renewable energy sources are the future of the energy industry,” the report states. “Vegan foods represent an opportunity to achieve net-zero emissions. However, more funding and research and development are necessary.”
Vegan food on a global scale
Since 2021, the report has detected even more significant growth in the sector, and many signs indicate that we will witness a real wave of new vegan products on a global scale in these years. “Each year, innovations emerge in the vegan sector: the path is set for a global transition towards a much fairer, safer, and sustainable food system.”
In the United States alone, the vegan market in 2021 grew three times faster than total food sales, as detected by the non-profit organization Good Food Institute (GFI). Retail sales data from SPINS, released on March 22, 2022, shows that sales of plant-based food products directly replacing animal products grew by 6% last year and by 54% in 3 years, reaching $7.4 billion. Moreover, over the last three years, plant-based foods have outpaced total food sales in both dollar and unit sales.
Vegan meat and fish are increasingly interesting to consumers
Research and Markets‘ report also notes that dollar sales of plant-based meat and fish have grown by 74% since 2018, reaching well over $1.4 billion. “The plant-based meat market today, in some ways, resembles the plant-based milk market when it was in its initial stages.”
Speaking of plant milk, in the USA, it currently represents 16% of all retail milk sales. The study states that with continuous innovation, the vegan meat category has the potential to gain a similar market share of the total meat market, potentially boasting a growth of 14 percentage points for a value of $16 billion.
