Good news for vegans: the food industry has embraced the wave and according to the latest research, the global plant-based snacks market is expected to grow at 8% per year.
Simple math tells us that it will double in eight years.
According to the research from Persistence Market Research (PMR), the global plant-based snacks market is being fueled by multiple factors — notably the rising awareness of health and wellness among consumers.
Besides, a rapid increase in the adoption of vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian diets is said to boost the sector. In addition, rising health issues and allergies have encouraged consumers to switch their eating habits and adopt plant-based snacks. As part of this shift, the move towards natural food substitutes has been witnessed among the lactose-intolerant consumers, which is expected to contribute immensely to the growing size of the plant-based snacks market.
Another significant growth propeller to the plant-based snacks market is growing awareness of animal welfare and treatment, which has resulted in tighter regulations and bans on several animal-based products.
As a result, manufacturers of plant-based snacks are diversifying their product portfolio by leveraging crucial ingredients and flavors, in the bid to enhance the taste of the snacks and acquire a large customer base.
Beside this, leading manufacturers of the plant-based snacks market have entered into strategic mergers and acquisition to broaden their existing range of product offerings. For instance, The Vegetarian Butcher, a vegan meat firm of the Netherlands partnered with Mora to expand its plant-based snacks business.
As compared to the traditionally consumed snacks, plant-based snacks are devoid of sugar, fat, and oil content, which makes them a healthier option to prevent conditions like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
What’s more, artificial flavors added to the fried snacks equally pose their share of the health threat to a human body, which remains a robust growth driver for the plant-based snacks market.
According to the report, key players in the space include General Mills Inc., The Unilever Group, Nestle, Primal Spirit Foods, Inc., Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Blue Diamond Growers, Inc., Eat Natural, Green Park Snacks Ltd, Louisville Vegan Jerky Company, Eat Real, Quorn, Oumph, Soul Sprout, Upton’s Naturals, Nutrifusion, Drink Eat Well, LLC, Go Raw®, Greenleaf Foods, SIREN SNACKS, and Zellee Organic, among others.
