New analysis shows that sales of plant-based foods in six key European countries grew by 5.5% to €5.4 billion last year.
Nonprofit and think tank the Good Food Institute Europe analysed previously unpublished Circana retail sales data to find the total amount of plant-based products sold grew between 2022 and 2023 despite a turbulent period for the food industry.
Germany – Europe’s largest market for plant-based foods – continued to show impressive growth across most product categories, while the overall volume of sales grew in Spain and France and remained stable in Italy.
Sales declined in the Netherlands and the UK – although there were signs that the slow-down started to level off throughout 2023 and the early months of 2024.
Plant-based meat and milk become mainstream
Additional analysis of household panel data reveals that significant proportions of households are now purchasing plant-based meat and milk, with sales of plant-based milk growing despite these products already being well-established.
Separate data revealed that 37% of all households in Germany, 33% in the UK and 19% in Spain bought plant-based meat at least once last year, while more than a third of German and British households and 40% in Spain bought plant-based milk at least once.
Sales of plant-based milk and drinks grew by 7.1% in value to reach €2.2 billion – and as a proportion of all milk sales, these products took a market share of between 4.6% in France and 9.8% in Germany.
The value of plant-based meat sales rose by 3.9% to €2.0 billion, and while overall unit sales also increased, the volume of sales measured by weight decreased by 3.2% – thought to be linked to inflation and the higher price of plant-based meat relative to conventional meat.
The analysis also finds that these price differences have shrunk in Germany and the Netherlands, although they have increased slightly in Spain.
Smaller categories show outsized growth
There were signs of increasing demand across some smaller categories:
- Plant-based cream sales increased in value by 24% to €138 million* with falling prices contributing to the category’s strong performance. It is now cheaper on average than branded conventional cream in both Germany and the UK.
- Plant-based cheese sales increased in value by 7% to €194 million. The volume of sales grew by 24% in France, 34% in Spain and 33% in Italy.
- The value of plant-based yoghurt sales grew across all six countries between 2023 and early 2024.
- The value of plant-based seafood sales grew by 10% in Germany and the UK.
However, there were also declining sales of plant-based ready meals, desserts and ice cream – thought to be due to cost-of-living pressures leading shoppers to cut back on non-essential and convenience items.
Helen Breewood, research and resource manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, said: “Europe’s plant-based sector has continued to make headway despite a difficult few years for the wider food industry. Plant-based meat and dairy are becoming mainstream options in many European countries, emerging plant-based categories are growing, and some products are beginning to compete with their animal-based counterparts on price.
“Our analysis finds that lower prices and higher quality can power the growth of these more sustainable options, so policymakers and manufacturers should continue to invest in innovation and infrastructure to develop tastier, more affordable products capable of building a diversified, resilient and healthy European food system.”
*Data was not available in Spain.
