17.07.2024
News
Nestlé has been deepening its position in the plant-based foods market even as the industry as a whole has been struggling
According to Mel Cash, the company’s director of marketing and innovation, consumer interest in this category is quite high, so the world’s largest food producer needs to have a strong presence in the market.
Nestlé has no plans to reduce its presence in the plant-based foods market, as many consumers are interested in having a choice when they eat or drink, the company’s top manager said.
Mel Cash, Nestlé’s chief marketing and innovation officer, said consumer interest in plant-based foods is strong despite the recent slowdown, so the world’s largest food producer needs some of its most recognizable brands to participate in the category.
While plant-based foods and beverages account for only a small portion of the $104 billion Nestlé sold globally last year, they also remain a key growth area for the company.
“Even as we start to talk about plant-based products being displaced, there’s still a lot of awareness, a lot of desire, and again, listening to consumers, they’re still telling us that’s where they want to go,” Cash said. “We have to be there.”
Nestlé entered the plant-based foods market in 2017 with the acquisition of Sweet Earth. Since then, it has expanded the brand into new categories such as plant-based chicken, beef, and deli meats.
Over the past few years, the food giant has also created plant-based additives for its Coffee mate, Natural Bliss and Starbucks beverages, as well as for Toll House creamers and chocolate chips. It also added plant-based meat as an option to DiGiorno’s pizza and Stouffer’s lasagna.
Cash noted that Nestlé’s portfolio of large, recognizable brands gives it an advantage in attracting and retaining consumers to plant-based alternatives. If a consumer has previously tried animal products from Nestlé and liked them, they are more likely to try plant-based products, even if they have had a bad experience with another plant-based brand not affiliated with the company.
“It’s about trust. I may have tried something else from the [Nestlé] portfolio before and felt really good about it. So I’m confident that my first attempt in a new area, such as plant-based, will be successful,” Cash said. “There is enough demand from consumers to make it a good opportunity for us.”
Nestlé is actively working to raise consumer awareness of its plant-based products.
The food giant plans to continue to offer new flavors in products that already have plant-based ingredients, such as Tollhouse fruit drinks or coffee creamers.
It is expanding distribution of Sweet Earth hamburgers and chicken in foodservice to get consumers to try the products with the hope that they will decide to buy them later in the grocery store. And Nestlé is using its innovation accelerator to develop new brands on a smaller scale that, if successful, can be expanded on a larger scale.
Once a fast-growing food category, the plant-based foods industry has slowed or declined in growth, especially in the meat sector. This has prompted several large companies to wind down their presence. In 2022, JBS USA abruptly closed its Planterra plant-based business, and Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Maple Leaf Foods all laid off employees.
Even as some of his competitors are reducing their plant-based footprint, Cash says consumer awareness and testing has grown so much that it will remain ingrained in consumer eating habits. “We don’t think it’s going to go away, which is why we’re still committed to plant-based products,” she said.
Steve Presley, CEO of Nestlé’s North American business, said last September that the plant-based food trend “is still a very strong consumer trend,” but it has “gotten a little crazy.” At the time, he downplayed the significance of “a massive shift to vegetarianism or veganism,” and instead predicted that most consumers would follow a meatless diet one or two days a week.