Alternative meats gained broad consumer awareness in the early 1990s, when vegetable-based patties from brands like Boca Burger appeared in the freezer aisle. Those products marked the first iteration of plant-based meats.
Then, a couple of decades later, a new class of meat analogues emerged, led by brands like Impossible and Beyond, that were much more akin to animal proteins than their predecessors. The new products gained widespread adoption in both quick- and full-service restaurants, paving the way for shoppers to add them to their baskets while grocery shopping.
But those meat alternatives have struggled to find a loyal audience, with some consumers turned off by their long ingredient lists (particularly for health-conscious shoppers) or less-than-satisfying flavor (particularly for meat-eaters).
Sales of refrigerated “patty alternatives” fell 36.7% as of April 23 compared to the year before, according to Circana data. As a whole, refrigerated meat alternative sales declined 17.7% during the period, while frozen meat alternatives saw a modest 3% boost. Sales of frozen “patty alternatives,” though, dipped 1.2%.
But “plant-based 3.0” is on the horizon, DuBois says, with innovation driven by smaller food producers who are changing the core technology of plant-based meats with fermented and cultivated products.
“Wow, this is a really tough category, but if you look forward to where things are … ,” he says. “The answer is, yes, companies are coming through with some breakthroughs that really make a difference. Plant-based 3.0 is real. A lot of people are sleeping on this category and are looking past it. It’s about to explode over the next five years.”
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