Despite the surge in popularity for plant-based protein nearly a decade ago, consumers soon realized that their plant-based “meat” was not cutting it, citing disappointing flavors, textures and mouthfeels as majority category downfalls. Now, consumers remain open to buying plant-based protein, but they demand taste and texture improvements.

As consumers are increasingly concerned with sustainability initiatives, animal welfare and health and wellness, the plant-based protein category still has clear potential, offering a surefire way to meet persisting consumer demands and priorities. To get the scoop on the latest plant-based category trends, The National Provisioner spoke with Before the Butcher President and Founder Danny O’Malley.

How is plant-based category addressing taste and texture concerns while keeping up with consumer demand?

Over the years there’s been an evolution of these products, starting back seven-plus years ago when Beyond and Impossible released their plant-based burgers. That was really the start of this evolution and the opportunity for companies like mine and others out there that are trying to create the best product that mimics animal-based protein in such a way that people recognize it and accept it. And they need to be delicious. So, the texture, the taste, the look of it is all really important.

And if you look at some of the products that were developed six or seven years ago, many of those products aren’t on the market anymore because the products have changed over time and companies are getting better and better at making products that are really, really similar to animal-based proteins.

Now the meat category, I believe has been the one that has done the best job … and we’re starting to see seafood hit the market pretty strong right now. It’s got a little ways to go, but we’re going to continue to see that, as these companies go in and develop products that are getting better and better. We’re seeing whole-meat cuts right now, steak, chicken fillets and things like that that are actually quite good.

Plant-based meats typically come with a higher price point. How are consumers marrying inflationary pressure with the desire for plant-based protein?

It’s a challenge. And I think we’re all feeling it right now. We’re certainly seeing that. As a value-added product, you’re looking at people making a decision as to what they can put on the plate and what they want to put on the plate. And sometimes that’s different, and so they have to make a choice and say look, instead of buying these products once a week or twice a week, now we might have to do it every other week until we feel settled in.

The prices of everything are higher, and certainly wages haven’t matched that. So it is a challenge for the average consumer, whether they’re meat eaters or they’re flexitarians or meat reducers, vegans or vegetarians. We’re all making decisions, whether it has to do with regular animal-based protein. Maybe you’re not buying the grass-fed beef anymore—it’s the same thing with plant based … But most of the products that are plant-based products are a little bit higher than the animal-based proteins that they’re mimicking.

As younger consumers are gaining more spending power in the marketplace, are you seeing more of a transition to plant-based protein?

There’s a natural progression toward plant-based. And that’s because the generations that we’re seeing now like Alpha Gen, even the tail-end of the Millenials, and also the Z gen. They’ve been kind of brought up on this. …  They know all about plant-based. The education is different today. Ten years ago when I was working in the industry, 90% of my time was trying to educate people, trying to get them to understand what this is all about. We don’t have to do that anymore. Now they just want to try to the products. They want to see what it’s like, they want to taste it. They want to understand what the differences are between one product and another. But we don’t have to tell them what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. They get it.

Yes, the money is a big part of it—when you’ve got money in your pocket you can go out and buy everything you want. But the education process of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it has evolved to the point where we don’t have to talk about it much anymore. So the kids nowaways, the Alpha, the Z generations, they’re brought up with this. This is what they know, and they’re going to go out and purchase it because they understand it already.

Are you seeing any flavor/formulation trends that are particularly popular or driving the category right now?

There is no question … Ethnic-type foods. Hispanic, Asian, Indian. Flavorful products are now being more introduced. And when you go online and you start looking at some of the chefs out there that are showing off plant-based products. They’re talking about this as well. They’re saying, ‘Hey, look, the great thing about many of the products that are made today is they’re kind of a blank slate.’ If you get a ground, a plant-based ground or crumble … It’s just like ground beef. You’re going to do something with it. Chicken, there’s a lot of just plain chicken chunks and strips. You’re not likely to eat it like that—you’re going to do something with that. So ethnic type of recipes and flavor profiles are really starting to explode on the plant-based side of the business today, no doubt about it.

How can retailers and producers alike drive plant-based protein consumption? Is there anything that they can do to increase visibility to the category?

The retailers just have to make it more accessible and more reasonable for suppliers to go out there and put their products on the shelf and get it in front of the consumer. The manufacturers, the companies that are making these products, probably have to do a little bit better job of getting out there either on social media or even general media and making sure people understand the options that are available. But the retailers really need to step forward again. They did a really good job a few years ago of stepping forward and opening up space for the plant-based products on their shelves. They’ve squeezed those spaces again. And we all know what’s happened with inflation and the challenges across the board with retail. But they’re got to reopen it and make a full commitment to this and just keep this space available for plant based. And then I think we’re going to see more products hit the market that are really exciting and fun to see out there for everybody to try.