Plant Based Meat in the Restaurant Industry

Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear about anotherrestaurant chain adding a plant-based meat analog to their menu. Restaurantsales of meat alternative foods grew by 268% in 2018 and that pace continued into2019. The growth goes well beyond the 5% of consumers that consider themselves fullycommitted to eating vegan and vegetarian foods.

Surveys are showing the majority of American consumers wouldrather see the food products called “plant-based” instead of “vegan”. Probablybecause vegan sounds too limiting and out of date.

Marketing people say there’s broad consumer perception thatplant proteins are more healthful than eating meat and prefer seeing the wordplant-based on their label or menu. The customer deems plant-based higher inquality and healthier for you. Plant-based foods are also on the forefront ofpeople’s minds when they consider the impact of raising beef, chicken and porkhas on the environment. So, sustainability has become one of the marketer’sfavorite buzz words.

Investment in alternate meat and seafood products were around$192 million in 2018. Of that $164 million went to two plant-based meatcompanies, Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat. Clearly there’s a craze forburger analogs in restaurants that look and tastes similar to the real thing.These two burgers are made with either pea protein or soy protein. But thereare also many other variations of burger analogs being made with other plantproteins. Including wheat, cereal grains and various types of beans.

Because of the extensive market exposure burger analogs arethe biggest sellers. There were also many more varieties of plant-based, meatanalogs products introduced at restaurants nationwide in the past 2 years.Chicken analogs are the second most popular followed by pork analogs. All threetypes of meat analogs are being used in meal entrée’s, pizza toppings and tacoand burrito fillings to name a few. They are being produced in many sizes andforms including shredded, diced as crumbles and even some that resemble wholemuscle meat. Seafood analogs are also becoming more popular as they find betterways to mimic the bite and flavor of seafood.

Another reason plant-based foods are being added to the menuis the profit margin factor that plant-based analogs are generally priced at apremium (Usually $1 or $2 more for an item that sells for around $10 that hasreal meat) The question is whether restaurants will determine the higherpercentage of profit is enough to make up for smaller sales volume theygenerate. Currently analogs make up only 2% to 5% of a larger sized restaurant’sproduct mix. That’s considered by many consultants to be about half of what arestaurant needs for full-time menus item to be considered successful in thelong run.

The plant-based meat analog space is still considered wideopen and has become a trend. The future looks bright for more variety andbetter tasting plant-based meat analog foods. What started out as a fad and alot of hype a few years ago is finding a permanent place on many more restaurantmenus.