Sales in the plant-based food retail market reached near 500 million euros between 2020 and 2022 (+9%). The positive figures are mainly driven by alternatives to refrigerated dairy and meat product substitutes. There are also significant developments in vegetable beverages and new emerging categories. However, this vitality faces the difficult obstacle of the inflationary context.
Fig. 1. Major launches of plant-based alternatives in Spain (2021-2022) I
Fig. 2. Major launches of plant-based alternatives in Spain (2021-2022) II
Fig. 3. Major launches of plant-based alternatives in Spain (2021-2022) & III
“Back to basics”
The total growth figures for 2022 and the vitality of innovation are, however, up against a wall that is difficult to overcome, as the current inflationary context imposes on this type of product, with average prices higher than their animal-based counterparts, which has inevitably slowed down their consumption over the last few months. It is again a time of "back to basics" and none of these veggie categories are close to price parity with their competitors.
The most mature of the three families, vegetable drinks, ended 2022 with an exceptionally contained average price performance, which has evolved by less than 1%, and still continues to show an average consumer selling price of just over 40% compared to drinking milk.
The average price of yoghurts and vegetable desserts was around €4/kg, higher than that of bifidus (€3.02/kg) or kefir (€3.17/kg), to name two value dairy segments. In the same vein, for example, marinated vegetable snacks from Mercadona's white label, which are slightly more than 120% more expensive than the chicken breast fillets marketed by the same supermarket chain.
The sector calls for a level playing field
Beyond the data and context, the plant-based segment has continued to make important moments and headlines in recent months. One of these took place last October, when Liquats Vegetals, Danone, Frías Nutrición, Pascual and Iparlat officially presented the new association of plant-based food and beverage producers in Spain, "Vegetales”.
Among the main demands of Vegetales are the need for institutional recognition of the category at a legal level to give legal security to the sector and to dispel doubts about these products, establishing what their contribution in terms of nutrition and sustainability is. In addition, the sector asked to “compete on equal terms with all products with a similar nutritional profile to this category in terms of taxation of plant-based drinks”.
See the full report in Spanish here: C2201_R44604_141_ALI_ALI042023_PRODUCTOS67.indd (alimarket.es)