“Alternative proteins are a supply-side solution that will help deliver a food system that can lower the risks for future pandemics and antibiotic resistance, decrease climate emissions, and help us feed a world of 10 billion people by 2050,” said Emma Ignaszewski, corporate engagement project manager for the Good Food Institute (GFI). “This industry will create new jobs and opportunities for American workers. And alternative proteins can accomplish all of this while families can still have a hamburger, steak, or chicken breast on their plates at dinnertime.”
In addition to peak sales, the alternative proteins industry also saw a record number of new companies and brands last year. Twenty-three cultivated meat companies launched in 2020, bumping up the total to 76 companies globally an increase of 43% compared to 2019. Thirteen new companies that produce fermentation-enabled alternative proteins started, making up a total of 51 companies worldwide, a 43% climb from 2019.
Gathered Foods, maker of Good Catch Plant-Based Tuna, has now branched into the frozen section with new offerings.
If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with the term “flexitarian,” now would be a good time to do so. Defined as “a person who has a primarily vegetarian diet, but also eats meat and fish,” this word has been loosely broadened to describe a growing number of U.S. consumers who desire to eat more healthfully and be kinder to the planet by adding more plant-based ingredients to their diet.
Around 30% of the U.S. population follows some sort of flexitarian diet, and these people are shopping not only in health food stores and larger health-centric chains like Whole Foods Market, but also in conventional supermarkets. During the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in 2020, sales of plant-based products surged a whopping 90%, led by burger alternatives and plant-based milks, according to SPINS data analyzed by the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA)