Interest in plant-based sources of protein and other nutrients is on the rise. Just in time for spring, a new association to support manufacturers of alternatives to meat and animal by-products has sprouted. With offices in Washington and San Francisco, PlantBasedFoods.org was created by several leading company executives of manufacturers of plant-based foods.
Sales of plant-based varieties of meat and dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese and cream) has grown more than 8.7 per cent over the last two years according to data released by SPINS, a retail sales data company for the natural and specialty products industry. In this same period, general food and beverage sector growth was just 3.7 per cent with plant-based milks in particular showing 14.4 per cent growth.
According to a press release from the new association, plant-based foods are a 3.5 billion dollar industry and the first executive director of the trade association Michele Simon noted, “Every other sector of the food industry—from sugar to organics—is represented in the policy arena. The time has come for the plant-based food industry to also have a collective voice.”
As the association has pointed out, the power held by other food industry associations such as the various dairy or meat marketing boards outweighs alternative food companies. With this new association, these companies believe they will have better representation at government board tables.
