What plant-based food brands are riding the new wave of success

Participants of the Plant Based World Expo in New York City last week saw new and exciting products like bacon made from mushrooms, and vegan crab cakes. It was an entirely different experience from the nuggets and burgers, which were the norm at many of the booths in the past.

“It attracted many brands that shouldn’t have been here yet,” Schadel told the media. “It’s frustrating for the brands that are really experience focused” since consumers who aren’t vegetarians or vegans frequently don’t differentiate between brands. An experience that isn’t positive for one brand could turn them off to all categories.

The amount of money flowing into plant-based businesses during the boom period was insufficient and, in recent years, the media has raised concerns about how much need there is for plants-based alternatives, and the amount of room is for this category to expand.

The exhibitors at the show were confident about the prospects for growth to come within the field and focusing on constantly making their products better and working in tandem to support and expand the plant-based food industry overall with a better comprehension of what the consumers actually desire.

The challenge of attracting customers

Steve Markenson from FMI. Steve Markenson presented the findings that included sale data taken from Nielsen IQ and comments from people who were questioned regarding their experience and opinions about dairy products, plant-based meats, and alternatives to seafood.

The people interviewed were from different stages of life, ages, and areas of the country. However, their opinions shared some commonalities. Everyone seemed to agree that, first and foremost plant-based food items must be tasty. However, at least one person emphasized that tasting good doesn’t mean that you have to replicate the traditional animal-based diet.

The majority of the sessions at the show were focused upon the future, and the necessity to pay greater focus on consumers – in determining what they want as well as educating them about the benefits of eating plants and advancing to offer the most satisfying experience.

This could be slowing things down or not going to market with products that have the potential to deter consumers from eating plant-based, experts from the industry and executives stated.

A cheesy dilemma

One of the categories in which the trend has been the most obvious is cheese made from plants, A category that has seen a significant improvement in the last few years.

Good Planet Foods was founded with the intention to produce sustainable dairy products that were delicious enough to make consumers return to buy more.

“For a long time there were one or two of us, then there was an explosion in 2020 and 2021 and suddenly there were 20 or 30 [brands,]” Good Planet CEO David Israel said during a panel discussion.

“A lot of them just wanted the sales, they didn’t care about the consumer experience.”

The issue was that once a customer was unhappy with a particular plant-based cheese ,it could cause them to avoid any vegan cheese, the expert said.

Good Planet’s primary focus is always on developing and improving its products, Israel said, with the goal of increasing the nutritional value and the texture and taste of the products. They have expanded beyond shreds and slices with snack packs with snackable wedges, snacks along with wheels of smoke gouda, and cheddar.

Perhaps don’t label it meat.

FMI’s research revealed 95% of customers who purchase meat that is derived from plants alternatives also purchase traditional meat. This can cause people to compare the two products, and highlighting the fact that products made from plants are often similar to traditional meat, but they are not identical. When people go Vegan or vegetarian, they’ll notice that their tastes alter over time. For omnivores such as flexitarians expect plant-based alternatives to be exactly the same in taste and mouthfeel as animal-based food products isn’t a realistic expectation.

As well as increasing the plant-based experience for customers, companies and brands in general will need to meet the expectations of their customers. A plant-based burger may taste delicious; however, it’s made from plants and won’t be exactly the same as a beef burger. it shouldn’t be advertised that in any way.