We offer rapid innovative solutions in the plant-based category through our extensive ingredient and flavor portfolio, backed by deep technical expertise. With advanced pilot facilities and expert teams, we accelerate the journey from concept to market while ensuring top quality and regulatory standards for success.
*Sources: Euromonitor stats, Q4 2024 & IFF Global Protein, August 2024
At IFF, we offer solutions that help people transition to a more balanced diet by incorporating plant protein into food and beverages, addressing the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions, decrease land use, and combat potential malnutrition as the world faces population growth and climate change.
Let’s talk taste! Switching to a plant-based diet is all about delivering an exceptional eating experience. Consumers, especially flexitarians, have the option to return to animal-based diets if their plant-based meals don’t meet their expectations, raising the stakes for the industry.
Whether people want their food to mimic the sensory experience of meat and dairy or crave something entirely different, current offerings often fall short on both fronts.
are looking for improvements in taste in plant-based products, whereas only 30% of consumers globally like the taste of the current plant-protein-based food.
Source: Innova Trends Survey 2024 & IFF Global Protein, August 2024
Today’s consumers are turning to plant-based products for their health and wellness benefits—everything from lowering cholesterol and improving heart health to managing diabetes, weight, and dietary restrictions. Diets rich in plant-based foods are attracting consumers.
In the plant-based beverage and dairy alternative market, digestive well-being is now a major driver, as more people seek gut comfort in their choices.
50% of consumers choose plant-based protein for overall health and nutrition, while 40% seek to improve protein quality, highlighting a strong link between a quality diet, health, and plant-based protein.
Source: IFF Global Protein, August 2024
Consumers today are seeking brands that align with their values, focusing on environmental, sustainable, and ethical practices. People now want to see real evidence behind the promises, demanding clear proof of a better, fairer way of living.
This growing desire has opened doors for meat alternatives plant-based options, taking them from niche to a broader “mainstream niche.”
Once limited to specialty stores, these alternatives now appear in global fast-food chains and dominate more space on supermarket shelves, signaling that the plant-based movement is no longer a trend but becoming a lifestyle.
consume plant-based protein for environmental reasons, the impact is clear: if everyone in the U.S. replaced beef with soy protein just once a week for a year, it would save 50 million tons of CO2.
Source: IFF Global Protein, August 2024 & Muñoz and Schmidt, 2015. Life Cycle Screening of Animal and Vegetable Derived Protein Sources. Prepared by 2-0 LCA Consultants for IFF
Plant-based products often carry a premium price compared to their animal-based counterparts, which can be a barrier for many consumers, especially during times of economic uncertainty and inflation.
As expenses rise, consumers are looking to cut back, making this price gap a significant hurdle for the adoption of plant-based foods. According to UBS analysis 2024, achieving price parity will boost consumption, but the true potential of plant-based products lies in reaching both price and taste parity.
for plant-based purchases, varying by region. A GFI study shows about ¾ of consumers prefer to pay the same or less for plant-based products.
Sources: GFI – when will the price be right? 2022 & IFF proprietary research, 2022-2023
Many consumers are incorporating plant-based products alongside animal-based foods, making it crucial to understand their unique expectations. Our research shows that nearly 70% of consumers are not seeking plant-based options that mimic meat or dairy. Instead, they crave variety and new sensory experiences that fit into different eating occasions throughout the day.
Through our Cusine Redefined Virtual Festival, we collaborate with chefs worldwide to reimagine global flavors and create products that align with consumers’ desires for variety, nutrition, affordability, and versatility.
The growing shift towards plant-based diets has fueled substantial growth in the meat alternatives market. According to Euromonitor, global retail sales of plant-based meat reached $6.4 billion in 2023, marking a 15% increase in dollar sales since 2018.
This growth is creating opportunities in emerging sub-categories like plant-based chicken, seafood, and jerky.
Consumer demand for healthier, ethical, and environmentally friendly options is a key driver of this expansion.
However, challenges remain, such as achieving taste and texture parity with conventional meat, as well as the premium pricing of plant-based meats compared to traditional options. To sustain growth, companies must focus on improving formulations and differentiating through superior taste and health benefits.
Flexitarians and reducers, who may easily return to animal-based diets if their plant-based experience falls short, are placing pressure on the industry to create plant based meat options that not only closely mimic meat and fish products, but are offering more variety into their diets.
At IFF, we are committed to addressing this challenge through advanced product development aimed at replicating the taste and texture of meat. Significant progress has already been made, resulting in exceptional plant based products.
This success, however, hinges on deep expertise in plant proteins, ingredients, and their sensory interactions. We recognize this journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are making the necessary investments to drive the technology forward.
At IFF, we combine deep consumer insights with our unparalleled portfolio of ingredients—including flavors, plant proteins, texturants, colors, cultures, probiotics, enzymes, and food protection—specifically curated for meat alternatives.
Our state-of-the-art global pilot facilities enable rapid scale-up, guided by our expert technical teams across regions.
From developing plant-based meat alternatives to exploring cutting-edge technologies like precision fermentation and cellular agriculture, IFF is your essential partner for plant-based innovation.
Together, we can create industry-leading alternative protein solutions that shape a better, more sustainable world.
Driven by a growing shift toward plant forward diets, the dairy and beverage alternatives market has expanded at an average annual rate of nearly 4% since 2015, according to Euromonitor.
The plant-based market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2024 to 2029, reaching $29 billion by 2029, with milk alternatives being the main driver.
As plant-based beverages and dairy alternatives continue to expand rapidly, we’ve leveraged our expertise, from consumer insights to industry trends, to address the key current and future challenges.
Through this analysis, we identified the following opportunities:
Creating a better world begins with a commitment to doing more good for people and the planet. IFF leads the way in Product Design, pioneering solutions for a healthier, more sustainable future.
By engaging our cross-category application expertise, we develop customized profiles that cater to diverse consumer preferences. Our state-of-the-art pilot facilities around the globe, guided by our technical experts, accelerate the scale-up process.
Whether designing plant-based beverages and dairy alternatives or exploring precision fermentation and cellular agriculture, we serve as your essential partner on the journey to innovation in the plant-based sector.
In the past decade, the energy drink and plant-based beverage segments have experienced remarkable growth. Energy drinks have seen a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, while plant-based drinks have enjoyed an impressive 11.4% compound annual growth rate. Notably, oat beverages surged by 300% during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating a promising trajectory for these categories.
However, manufacturers face several challenges in developing plant-based energy drink products.
Despite their rising popularity, energy drinks are often scrutinized for their negative aspects, particularly the side effects associated with high caffeine and sugar levels. Additionally, the rapid proliferation of launches in the plant-based beverage sector makes it difficult for brands to stand out in a competitive market.
We embraced a consumer-centric approach to developing a plant-based energy drink, guided by Design Thinking—a human-centered, iterative process used by IFF for new product development.
Through an interactive collaboration with consumers from the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, alongside IFF product developers and category experts, we gathered valuable insights into dietary habits and preferences while exploring unmet needs related to energy management.
From our findings, we co-created 19 initial concepts and selected 6 for consumer validation testing. Among these was a concept designed for afternoon or evening enjoyment without disrupting sleep patterns.
We refined this idea into the Green Vitality Boost, a plant-based energy drink that provides physical energy along with mental relaxation and stability.
The “Green Vitality” concept signifies our shift from traditional energy drinks to a more holistic approach to energy, addressing both physical vitality and mental well-being. This project exemplifies our commitment at IFF to leveraging Design Thinking, creating products that are not only innovative but also closely aligned with evolving consumer needs and preferences.
By adopting a consumer-centered approach to innovation and utilizing our deep understanding of market trends in plant-based energy drinks, we are positioned to design products that thrive in the marketplace.
Bring your vision to life with IFF’s expertise in food and beverage innovation. Together, we can turn bold ideas into groundbreaking solutions.