Latest report by Frost & Sullivan on ‘Growth Opportunities in Alternative Protein Ingredients for Human Nutrition’ has shown the importance of plant-based alternatives as the top choice by consumers globally followed by microbial and insect protein alternatives.
From this study, it is clear that consumers are more comfortable to replace their mainstream protein diet with plant-based food. Major growth drivers will be the growing vegan and flexitarian population, combined with rising awareness on health and sustainability. According to the report, soy-based protein ingredients held the largest share of the total plant protein ingredients market in 2022, however novel, non-genetically modified organism (GMO), allergen-free plant-protein ingredients will continue to see high growth.
Meanwhile, microbial and insect proteins are still lagging far behind in terms of consumption, as most people are still not comfortable of consuming such ingredients (see Chart 1.0).
In terms of region, North America (NA) remains as the most important market for alternative proteins followed by Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe (see Chart 2.0). Meanwhile, plant protein ingredients find major applications in meat analog, dietary supplements and dairy alternatives (see Chart 3.0).
