Veganuary: Plant-based innovators sharpen focus on clean label as green gastronomy marches into 2024

11 Jan 2024 --- Calls for compelling plant-based options are rising as Veganuary 2024 gets into full swing. As the alt-protein space continues to innovate a diverse range of non-meat options and dairy substitutes, manufacturers and brands know they have more to do to overcome roadblocks in the vegan arena, particularly in terms of cleaning up their label and ingredient lists.

An abundance of opportunities remain for plant-based innovation despite calls for the sector to go beyond the basics of replicating burgers and other alternative analogs.

Improving the nutritional content of products, boosting taste and texture and price parity are crucial aspects for the plant-based industry this year. Many have begun consciously cleaning up the label of vegan (and vegetarian) offerings, but this is expected to ramp up throughout 2024.

Veganuary campaigns are taking place in 16 countries in 2024 — but officials expect people to join worldwide as the appetite for greener, eco-friendly food developed without slaughtering animals gathers pace.

Europe is where most plant-based innovation is taking place and European consumers who are driving demand. US consumers currently show less interest in plant-based F&B, but the market is expected to pick up. 

Data from a Wakefield Research survey for Saputo Dairy USA’s Vitalite dairy-free cheese brand, published a few days ago, shows that 68% of Americans have tried a plant-based meat or a dairy alternative. 

A third (31%) of Americans substitute meat, cheese or dairy with a plant-based alternative in an average of eight meals a week, suggesting that while they may not go fully vegan, there is a growing appetite to follow an occasional plant-based or flexitarian diet.

Meanwhile, Innova Market Insights emphasizes a move in plant-based foods toward familiar and convenient recipes and formats in 2024. This move is the focus for its fourth trend: “Plant-based: The rise of applied offerings.”

Globally, Innova’s research measured 8% annual growth in ready meals and sides making “plant-based” or “vegan” claims between 2020 and 2023.

Expanding scope 
This year, the Veganuary initiative has increased its global presence, opening a new chapter in Spain and working with new partner organizations in Austria and Greece that are running Veganuary campaigns in those countries, Dr. Toni Vernelli, international head of policy and communications at Veganuary, tells Food Ingredients First.

Food innovators will focus on improving taste and texture while cleaning up the label of vegan products this year.“In all our ‘official’ countries, we are prioritizing working with businesses to increase the availability, palatability and affordability of plant-based foods and are seeing lots of progress happening in newer markets like Latin America.”

“In more established markets, like the UK and Germany, we are working with brands and retailers to encourage them to prioritize price parity for plant-based products and make public commitments on increasing the proportion of their business that is plant-focused.”

Cleaning up plant-based labels
Cleaning up plant-based labels is an issue that has come to the fore in the last 18-24 months and the industry is responding quickly, notes Dr. Vernelli.

“Some brands already have quite short ingredient lists and have been quick to refocus their marketing on this point, while others have begun reformulating their products or conducting research on how to reformulate to meet this new consumer demand. Ultimately, this will be good for the sector as product quality and nutritional value will increase across the board and bolster the reputation of the sector.” 

January has kicked off with several Veganuary-based initiatives, launches and promotional activities, as we hit around the halfway mark of the 31-day challenge to go meat and dairy-free for the month. 

Plant-based proponents are keen to demonstrate to meat and dairy eaters that shifting their diets is achievable in the longer term and urge participants to make green eating a year-round occasion.

“Every year we survey Veganuary participants at the end of their one-month pledge and the reasons they give for choosing to stay vegan are very consistent. One of the most common reasons is that eating vegan was much easier than they expected.”

Veganuary participants are urged to shift to “greener food” once the Veganuary campaign ends on January 31. He adds that most people don’t realize how many of the foods they already eat are vegan — from fruit and veg to baked beans, hummus, pasta, bread, peanut butter, breakfast cereals and more.

“Another common reason is that they experienced improved health. Around half of our 2023 participants saw some improvement to their overall health (47%), with increased energy (46%), improved mood (49%), better skin (38%) and desired change in body weight (35%) being the most common benefits.”

“The third most common reason is that they learned more about the issues related to veganism such as animal welfare on farms, the environmental impacts of animal farming and the diverse world of vegan food,” she continues.

Widening the net on alt-seafood
Innovators are turning their attention to other types of vegan alternatives, outside of basic replications. One area of interest currently is in vegan seafood and a plethora of seafood alternatives are coming to the fore. 

Recent examples include a vegan salmon filet becoming the first 3D-printed mycoprotein fish product in supermarkets, cow-free cheese from Those Vegan Cowboys and plant-based shrimp and tuna innovations.

Moreover, the association Future Ocean Foods was recently set up to promote the burgeoning alternative seafood industry, pegged as having massive global potential as consumers seek ocean-friendly alternatives.

Foodservice targets Veganuary
A range of new-meat foodservice locations has been onboarded for Veganuary 2024, including a collaboration with Mexican restaurant chain Enchilada, which will see new-meat dishes, including a first-of-its-kind Beef Flank Fajita feature on the January menus of 28 restaurants around Germany.

Alternative seafood shows huge potential as overfishing concerns increase among consumers.In the UK, more than 70 foodservice operators join campaigns such as Leonardo Hotels, All Star Lanes, a London-based bowling venue and the Three Cheers traditional British-style pub chain.

The Redefine Burger is on the Veganuary menu of French steakhouse chain, Hippopotamus, while in the Netherlands, Redefine Meat’s beef and pork pulled new-meat products will be served by the Compass Group and Redefine Meat has partnered with one of Sweden’s biggest restaurant chains, Pinchos, in a Veganuary restaurant initiative. 

Moving forward
Dr. Vernelli flags that the research points to two key things plant-based foods manufacturers need to do to remain viable — produce great-tasting products and offer a price similar to the animal-based equivalent. 

“No matter how strongly people want to protect the environment, reduce animal suffering or improve their own health, they simply aren’t willing to compromise on the taste or enjoyment of their food. So making flavorful products that consumers like enough to buy again is the number one thing the industry needs to focus on.”

She further points out the importance of affordability in the current economic climate. 

“People do not have the disposable income to take a risk on expensive meat alternatives that they might not like. For first-time buyers in the sector, prices need to be as close to the meat-based version as possible to reduce the risk that they will be wasting their limited food budget,” she concludes.

By Gaynor Selby