Strategic Recommendations for Top Players in Plant-Based Food Market

 There are several opportunities in the plant based food market around the world, but entrepreneurs frequently confront some common difficulties that must be addressed for this sector to grow. The plant-based sector has numerous obstacles, including costly capital investment, sourcing issues, supply chain limitations, and pricing competition from the animal-based industry. Stakeholders in the plant-based food market ecosystem must recognize these issues and fight to overcome them to achieve long-term growth.

 

To future-proof enterprises in the plant-based food market, they use flexible and scalable design principles to defend against volatility while also embracing new technologies and opportunities with minimal capital expenditure. This will help them to lower the threat they are facing in the plant-based food market and also to scale up their operations and achieve economies of scale easily in the coming years. Below mentioned some of the key strategies that the top players in the plant-based food market can adopt.

 

Plant Based Food Market Companies to Enhance the Product Formulation Techniques

Flexitarians are worried about the texture and appearance of the foods, whereas vegans are not. Flexitarians evaluate plant based food products based on look, taste, and texture, which has raised the bar for top plant-based food firms to create foods that can replicate animal products. This needs a significant investment in product development tactics.

 

Mock meat is a successful example of a plant based brand living up to the expectations of flexitarians. The texture of the finished product is determined by how it is treated. "Shear-cell" and "high-moisture extrusion" are two of the most common technologies for converting vegetable protein into a layered and fibrous structure that closely resembles meat. As a result, every bite feels meaty.

 

Juiciness, taste release, and mouth-coating richness are all enhanced by mouth-coating fat. Coconut oil has been used in place of animal fat by several brands. Coconut oil, on the other hand, melts at far lower temperatures than animal fat. A mouthful begins rich and juicy but quickly fades. To solve this issue, sunflower oil, water emulsions, and grown animal fats are being developed as animal fat substitutes.

 

There are some other strategies that plant based food market enterprises can employ. Proteins such as peas and soy should not be used to create seafood substitutes. New proteins, such as microalgae and seaweed, could be attractive alternatives if the processing is improved. According to a recent study from the University of Massachusetts, a series of standardized tests could assist R&D teams in improving the sensory profile of plant-based milk and cream. One of the most difficult plant-based options for customers to accept is dairy-free cheese. But that could change shortly. Motif FoodWorks, for example, employs prolamin technology to create plant based cheese that bubbles, expands, and melts like the real thing.

 

 

Easing Out the Issue of Ingredient Sourcing and Logistics Issues

Proper ingredient sourcing can be a significant hurdle for plant based food market firms to overcome. To address such problems, brand owners must vary their component profile while also forming cooperatives with multiple farmers to source sustainably.

 

Odd Burger, which employs foods including wheat, soybeans, beans, lentils, and oats, is another example of a "simple and bountiful" ingredient profile. Even during the pandemic, this company had no sourcing concerns because it sources all of its non-GMO ingredients from Canadian organic farmers, including coconut milk, chickpeas, and organic soy or oat milk for its sauces. In addition, Evo Foods in India has lately shifted to using readily available components such as legumes for their plant-based liquid egg.

 

Food safety is a major challenge that plant based food market firms encounter throughout the logistics chain. Kerry recently hosted a webinar to assist plant based food brands in dealing with typical food safety challenges. Plant based foods, unlike animal-based goods, frequently comprise a large list of components that introduce a diverse range of bacteria into the mix. To prevent this, Kerry suggests planning for food safety early in the formulation process, paying attention to the influence of each ingredient as the product progresses.

 

Packaging also plays a vital role in food safety. It not only helps to increase the shelf life of plant based foods, but it also allows for unambiguous communication of preparation directions, expiration dates, and other safety information to the consumer. Clean and intelligent labels, such as QR codes and RFID tags, must be used to track and trace these products and identify any spoilage that may occur.

 

Lowering Down the Production and Operational Costs

Plant based meat is thought to be more expensive due to the expenditures associated with R&D and ingredient procurement, and most companies in this field have relied on venture capital to finance their operations, which raises their costs even further. The most efficient method to deal with these challenges is to implement innovative technology that decreases work time and workload while increasing efficiency. Several revolutionary processing technologies for plant based foods, such as shear cell processing and 3D printing, are being developed for wider application.

 

Scaling up production is another approach to cutting costs, but it also requires finding the correct demand markets. Furthermore, improved R&D might result in fresh alternatives in the manufacturing cycle, which can lower production costs. For example, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, two of the world's most popular plant based foods, have declared public plans to cut their pricing. To accomplish this goal, the corporation intended to expand its manufacturing facilities and optimize output. It is impossible to even provide a 15% price decrease. Plant & Bean, situated in the United Kingdom, collaborates with Griffith Foods, Gushen, and Wageningen Universities, as well as Singapore Institute of Technology and two leading research institutes. They are now developing novel technology to cut the cost of plant based meat ingredients and the manufacturing of plant-based proteins by nearly 50%.

 

 

Getting Ample Investment for the Plant Based Market Firms

Financing is a significant barrier for plant based food market participants. Nonetheless, since the epidemic, there has been a sharp shift in the flow of capital toward more sustainable and healthier diets. Investors are capitalizing on the trend of replacing meat with sustainable alternatives or reducing food waste. Much of the funding in developing 'food of the future is being handled by venture capital businesses. Investors are drawn in by the success of businesses such as Beyond Meat Inc., which has increased fivefold since its IPO in 2019.

 

For instance, Big Idea Ventures (BIV), a massive new venture capital firm, is investing in vegan businesses. The hybrid venture firm, which is backed by Tyson and the Singapore government's VC arm Temasek, includes both a VC arm and an accelerator program. BIV's debut fund, the New Protein Fund, is worth roughly $50 million and is "the first and largest plant based accelerator fund," according to BIV founder Andrew Ive. While vegan protein will be its primary emphasis, BIV will also look into clean meat startups, with five to ten percent of the funds set aside for them.

 

Another plant based food market firm, GoodDot, one of India's first plant based food market players, has received further money from Sixth Sense, the country's first consumer-focused venture capital firm. The funding is part of GoodDot's pre-Series A round and is the first venture capital investment into the Indian plant based meat market. The fresh cash will aid the startup's global expansion. GoodDot has already expanded into Canada, Dubai, Nepal, South Africa, and Nepal during the last year, and its next phase will include the United States and Europe.

 

Conclusion

The plant based food market is growing big due to the varied nutritious value and increasing health-consciousness of the consumers. But irrespective of this growing popularity, there are a lot of hindrances that the players in the plant based food market have to face. This ranges from product formulation, sourcing issues, and funding challenges to high operational costs. To stand out in the global food market, the top players in the plant based food market are required to overcome these challenges by positioning and planning their strategies accordingly concerning each of the challenges.

The plant based food market players have turned towards newer technologies to enhance the taste, texture, and appearance of the products in the plant based food market. Also to mitigate the funding challenges, the various companies have turned towards reaching out to the opportunities being handed out by different venture capital firms as well as other investment firms. The plant based food market is an extensive market for growth opportunities due to the nutritious and healthier food options. Thus, various start-ups and SMEs in the plant based food market can try to opt for these strategies to gain a competitive edge in the global plant based food market.

 

For More, Visit: https://event.futuremarketinsights.com/thought-leadership/whitepaper-the-plant-based-revolution