Plant-based alternatives have taken over this year's International Burger Day, with IBISWorld analysts revealing a soar in vegan food product sales in Australia, and food manufacturers increasing production to meet consumer demand. As a result, the local meat sector has turned to overseas markets to sustain growth.
The meat substitute market, which includes vegan and plant-based foods, is set to reach $7.5 billion worldwide by 2025. Plant-based meats aim to replicate the experience of cooking and eating conventional meat, with food technologists developing combinations of plant proteins, fats, gums, spices and seasonings to to achieve similar appearance, texture and flavour.
IBISWorld senior industry analyst Bao Vuong told Food & Drink Business Australia is one of the largest vegan markets in the world and its strong growth rates are likely to remain for the foreseeable future.
“This means for Australian food manufacturers that there is a new market out there for them to potentially expand into,” Vuong says.
“For some food manufacturers, they may be struggling in their current industries and this provides them with a new market to potentially develop and grow in. However, this market is still quite small in Australia, so although there is strong growth right now for plant-based foods, it might not be yet a market that Australian food manufacturers can lean on for a big portion of their sales revenue.”
What's the beef?
IBISWorld reports that with the surge in demand for plant-based alternatives, so has the cost of meat products. As a result of the recent trend, local demand has weakened and will affect the long term viability of the Australian meat and dairy sector, including beef cattle farming, cheese manufacturing, and milk and cream processing industries, its report says.
The Australian meat processing industry now generates over 60 per cent of its revenue from overseas, and is only expected to rise over the next five years, due to its international reputation as a producer of high-quality food products.
Vuong says that considering Australia is still a small industry, more Australian manufacturers are expected to expand into the plant-based food market to take advantage of the strong gains. “As the market continues to grow, we can expect more Australia manufacturers to jump aboard and embrace this trend to cater to the growing market,” he told F&DB.
“If anything, Australian consumers would probably prefer to buy from an Australian manufacturer so there is definitely room for Australian plant-based food manufacturers to develop and grow.”
Plant to plate
To take advantage of the increasing demand, popular food chains such as Hungry Jack's, Schnitz and Grill'd have all recently added plant-based options to their menus, while health food company The Alternative Meat Co has teamed with Sydney burger joint Huxtaburger, for its release of three new non-meat products this International Burger Day.
Competitive Foods Australia (CFAL) and CSIRO have also joined forces to create a new company called v2food, which plans to introduce a 'version two' of the whopper, with “sustainability of our food supply the primary goal”.
“We want to create an alternative version of the classic Whopper that Australians know and love, at a price ordinary consumers can afford, to answer to the environmentally sustainable movement that we're now seeing,” said CFAL CEO and Hungry Jack's founder Jack Cowin, where “v2food will draw on world-leading food science expertise of CSIRO to help pave an eco-friendly future.”
IBISWorld analysts suggest that a key factor behind the rise in demand for plant-based products is Australians' increasing concern about their impact on the environment.
Research has found animal-based agriculture responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. As meat and dairy require more resources, such as land and water, more emissions are produced per kilogram than plant-based alternatives, IBISWorld reports.
Both v2food and the Alternative Meat Co have indicated environmental sustainability as a reason for introducing plant-based options.
“The food landscape is always changing and with this plant-based food trend, I don’t see it being just a fad,” Vuong says.
“If anything, with the way the health consciousness trend will continue to only increase, it is more likely we will see this trend become more prominent and popular.”
Despite the health-conscious movement, concerns remain around the levels of of sodium and saturated fats in plant-based alternatives due to its processed nature.
