The Australasian Plant Based Association (APBA) says its upcoming summit (17 July) will investigate how to increase the amount of plant-based food and beverage products consumers buy in their everyday purchasing decisions.
APBA CEO Bruce McIntyre told Food & Drink Business the young not-for-profit (it formed last year after the inaugural Plant Based Summit) was established with a commercial lens to help the plant-based food and beverage industry grow.
“Following data out of the US indicating a decline or at least a plateau of plant-based meat sales, along with high levels of investment that hasn’t matched the expected growth, it’s time we focused on converting the hearts and minds of the consumer,” McIntyre said.
Plant-Based Summit 2023 will be held at The Grand Hyatt, Melbourne, on Monday, 17 July, from 8:30am to 6pm.
McIntyre emphasised that plant-based food and beverage was critical in ensuring food security for the forecast two billion people by 2050.
“It’s time our industry pulled together to innovate, not just at product level but across food systems, commercial models, and marketing to ensure we build a sustainable plant-based food and beverage industry.
“Sharing knowledge, establishing connections and mutual opportunities to identify how we can collectively identify ways to support our industry growth is a powerful outcome from the summit.
“Co-opetition is a brave theme and utopian in a growth industry where everyone is frantically trying to get the balance between shareholder and consumer value. But we need be innovators across all aspects of supply chain and find smart ways of working together,” he said.
The summit keynote speaker is consumer insights marketing expert Katrina McCarter, who will present on how to target growth for each generation and how to market to the lucrative ‘mums’ marketplace.
Two marketing themes will also be tested and explored on the day.
The first, ‘Plant based meat and 3 veg’, aims to normalise positive conversations into the everyday consumer psyche.
The second is to redefine ‘flexitarian’, not as vegetarians occasionally eating meat, but as carnivores increasing their consumption of plant-based meats.
Both can lead to a broadening of acceptance and opens the pathway to a higher penetration of sales, McIntyre said.
All of the learnings, issues, and opportunities from the summit will be collected and reviewed and fed into the APBA strategic review plan to ensure the APBA listens and delivers tangible value back to the industry and its members.
McIntyre said, “Being part of the summit provides an opportunity to contribute to the industry brains trust and process to shape a sustainable industry into the future.”
Book your tickets here. For more information on the summit or APBA, visit the website.
