Plant-based trends over the last five years have been positive, driven and sustained by the constant arrival of new products on the market.
The data are clear and resounding, the Plant-Based sector, consolidated globally in 2021 – Innova Market Insights report – maintains its positive trend in Spain in 2023, according to the report published by Alimarket.
The continuous arrival of new plant-based foods on the market, with an increase of up to 30%, has boosted the growth of a sector that has found its strongest allies in families that have changed their nutritional habits and in young people who have opted for vegetarian and vegan diets.
This scenario, in which global megatrends dictate consumer preferences, has become the perfect pole of attraction for a sector that is consolidating, driven by consumers. Demanding consumers who, in turn, stimulate the R&D departments of companies by providing constant opportunities for innovation.
Because consumers who regularly, occasionally or intermittently include plant-based products in their diet are not just part of one more trend, they are an active part of a megatrend that includes all aspects of an individual’s life and which we can call plant-based trends.
The consumption of plant-based products is, globally and often, a cause and consequence of other trends such as the search for a different lifestyle, more focused on the integral care of people and their environment; of a balance between consumption and replenishment of the planet’s resources; of an existence that focuses technological development towards a good management of environmental impact to favour sustainability and that, in addition, has improved its prices making its consumption increasingly affordable: a diet that includes plant-based food is already within the reach of a growing number of consumers.
Following plant-based trends means, in practice, prioritising the consumption of local and seasonal foods with minimal packaging and, of course, perfectly recyclable to minimise the ecological footprint; opening the mind and senses to new ways of tasting different textures, to feed and care for oneself in a holistic way, allowing both the senses and personal and planetary well-being to be involved in the simple act of nourishing oneself.
To collaborate in this plant-based trend, food companies must commit to innovation by acquiring the best raw materials at source in order to offer the best products to consumers, both from a nutritional and organoleptic point of view, without losing focus on sustainability.
A line that companies such as Molendum Ingredients, a subsidiary of the Dacsa group, has been following for years and which has allowed it to position itself among the top producers of natural, clean label, non-GMO and gluten-free ingredients for the industry specialising in plant-based products.
Plant-based food has crossed the borderline between gastronomic, healthy and sustainable trends. It is now possible to access innovative ingredients, such as vegan or vegetarian sushi, to buy quality plant-based food in supermarkets at affordable prices and to contribute to the sustainability of the planet.
Plant-based trends and the companies that provide the necessary raw materials make all this possible.
