Plant-based success starts with the senses – Consumers are curious about plant-based alternatives to conventional foods. The challenge for manufacturers is to keep consumers coming back for more after the first purchase
KIMBERLY HOGAN
Sensory science group manager, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences
Make no mistake about it: plant-based foods are hot. Right now, it looks like the growth in global demand is never going to stop. Even so, there are many new products that disappear from the market almost as soon as they arrive. There’s one main reason for that. They may look novel and exciting in the store, but, when consumers get them home, the eating experience is much less inspiring – often sealing their fate as a one-off consumer purchase.
For food manufacturers, there is plenty of incentive for getting sensory quality right. Innova Market Insights reports (1) average annual growth of 68% in the global plant-based foods and beverages segment over the past five years, with health, sustainability and ethical concerns driving consumer purchases. In the US, a report commissioned by The Good Food Institute (2) cites a 31% increase in plant-based food dollar sales over the two years up to April 2019.
CURIOSITY FROM THE MAINSTREAM
What we see at DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences is a high level of curiosity that is attracting people who may not previously have given plant-based foods a thought. High-profile launches ...
