16.07.2024
Study
Exploring the current plant-based food trends that have taken the world by storm
Leafy greens, walnuts, and citrus fruit are just some of the main elements of a healthy plant-based diet. The diet, if followed, promises a healthy future.
With a new era that brings a constant parade of better or healthier diets, many doctors and nutritionists (especially after the pandemic) are encouraging their clients and patients to adapt to a plant-based lifestyle. A healthy plant-based diet consists only of fruits and vegetables (with minimal processing), grains, nuts, seeds, spices, etc., excluding any animal products, from meat, poultry, dairy products and eggs.
A plant-based diet has been scientifically proven to improve immunity and provide health benefits such as chronic disease prevention, natural detoxification, and weight loss. As part of a healthy lifestyle, eating plant-based foods can help you achieve good health while taking care of the planet. Additionally, following a plant-based lifestyle can be beneficial as it helps to preserve the planet from the destruction of marine life, deforestation, carbon footprint, and more.
What’s in trend?
With all the benefits discussed above, plant-based foods will undoubtedly become increasingly popular. There has been a major shift among consumers as they look for tasty, easy-to-store, yet healthy and environmentally friendly food with every order. India has also taken some obvious steps towards this conscious shift, such as releasing educational posters to reaffirm the benefits of a plant-based diet or running government campaigns such as the #EatRightIndia campaign.
With this in mind, many brands have also added plant-based products and dishes to their product portfolios and menus. This has led to the development of the plant-based meat and lactose-free milk segment.
A plant-based diet is more than just consuming fruits and vegetables from the market. Some of the new trends and developments in plant-based foods are mentioned below.
Plant-based seafood substitutes
Plant-based foods are not limited to meat and dairy products. Seafood such as shrimp, fish fillets and tuna salads are among the few products that companies are exploring. Plant-based crab cakes were presented at an international exhibition, indicating the growth of the sector. Also being researched are organic snacks such as fried seaweed and kelp chips, which contain micronutrients such as vitamin K, B6 and iron.
Meat and vegetable hybrid feeds
Some consumers are actively seeking to reduce their consumption of animal meat. To cater to this group, meat companies are filling their burgers and nuggets with vegetables, such as chicken nuggets with a mixture of cauliflower and chickpeas.
Dairy-free cheese
Thanks to advances in technology and several innovations, dairy-free cheese has gained attention around the world. Its flavor, richness, melting ability, and creaminess are not inferior to dairy-based cheese, which allows some restaurants to include vegan pizza on their menus.
Meat without meat
Products that don’t lose the nutritional value of meat are among the latest trends to emerge. Many brands are offering meat alternatives ranging from soy, tofu, jackfruit, pea protein, wheat gluten, and more. One important reason for this shift is that plant-based meats are also free of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs that can be found in traditional meat products.
Milk of plant origin
Lactose intolerance is one of the main factors driving sales of plant-based milk made from soy, oats, almonds, cashews, rice, and more. In terms of nutritional value, soy milk is the closest to animal milk. In terms of taste, consumers prefer almond milk over other options.
Healthy snacks
Working from home has become the norm in recent years, so sitting for long periods of time has increased the demand for healthy snacks. There are many interesting, healthy plant-based snacks on the market. These include dried fruit pull-outs, fruit and nut bars, fruit leather, crispy fruit chips, roasted nuts, chickpea and vegetable chips, and more.
Plant alternatives to eggs
Alternatives to plant-based eggs are among the fastest growing products in the category. The rise of flexitarianism is fueling this market. Some examples include vegan egg whites and boiled eggs. These products mostly use peas, beans, turmeric, chickpeas, and other ingredients to achieve an egg-like texture and flavor.
How to keep up with trends?
The idea behind the formation of a unique plant-based lifestyle was simply a sustainable future. The current pace at which we are mindlessly following has caused serious damage to our planet. Livestock production alone is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation emissions combined. This healthy, sustainable trend needs to be addressed to ensure a fruitful tomorrow for future generations. This initiative has led to a revolutionary change among many brands that are lining up to join the plant-based foods bandwagon.