Soaring demand for plant-based foods

This custom dataset comprises retail sales of plant-based foods that directly replace animal products, including plant-based meat, eggs, and dairy, as well as meals that contain direct replacements of animal ingredients.

The data not only shows growth across all key plant-based categories but that the rate of growth itself is rapidly accelerating. While total US retail food sales grew just 2% over the previous 12 months, retail sales of plant-based foods grew a phenomenal 17% during the same time period.

Sales of plant-based meat increased 23% in the past year, up from 6% growth the previous year. Retail sales of plant-based meat grew double-digits across all nine US census regions, and some of the greatest growth is actually coming from the center of the country. For instance, refrigerated plant-based meat sales are growing fastest in the Mountain region, while frozen plant-based meat sales are growing fastest in the West South Central region, which includes Texas.

The fastest growing plant-based meat brand is Beyond Meat with sales up 70%, followed by Field Roast (+68%), Gardein (+51%), Dr. Praeger’s (+44%), and Quorn (+31%).  

For GFI Director of Corporate Engagement Alison Rabschnuk this growth comes as no surprise: “As consumers look to decrease their meat consumption, more and more people are choosing plant-based meat. In fact, 12% of households across the US now purchase plant-based meat.”