Podcast: What happens after this cooling off phase for plant-based products?

Plant-based products got off to a roaring start in the grocery sector a few years ago, but the market is starting to settle and evolve.

The plant-based meat sector is experiencing severe growing pains. Fresh meat alternatives had volume sales of 36.9 million for the 52 weeks ending May 19, down 21% year over year, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. 

Volume sales for frozen alternatives totaled 90.1 million over the same time period, down 11.7% year over year. 

Plant-based dairy is also going through a down cycle. Through May 19, non-dairy milk dollar sales were down 28.3% versus the same time in 2023 and volume was down 18.1%, according to Circana data. 

“Plant-based has been really struggling, but within the dairy category it is certainly struggling,” said John Crawford, SVP, Client Insight-Dairy, at Circana. “Part of that is they took price increases a little bit later than dairy did, and so when dairy milk started to go down, plant-based milks really had to increase their prices to cover their costs.” 

So where exactly is the plant-based industry headed? In this episode of SN off the Shelf, Supermarket News Senior Editor Bill Wilson talks with Douglas Brown, senior retail reporter with New Hope Network. Brown talks about the state of the industry and some emerging trends with plant-based products.