PLANT BASED DAIRY ALTERNATIVES 2022
Formulating dairy
alternative beverages
The locust bean gum supply crisis
More European consumers reassessed their
food choices during the pandemic and shifted
to plant-based foods and beverages.
According to the Smart Protein Project, which was
funded by the EU, it’s a “fundamental shift” driven
by flexitarians who seek to diversify their diet. In the
middle of 2021, the Smart Protein Project conducted
a study that showed the plant-based product Europeans
consume the most is milk alternatives: 28% of
all survey respondents and 36% of those who identify
as flexitarian stated that they consume plant-based
milk alternatives “at least one to three times a week
or more.” When asked about their future plans, 40%
of survey respondents said that they plan on reducing
their dairy consumption even more (1). In another
survey, Datassential reports that 67% of U.S. adults
tried a plant-based dairy alternative in 2021(2). These
are just a couple of examples of changing consumer
preferences that have led to huge growth in the global
dairy alternatives market and an anticipated CAGR
rate of 7% between 2021 – 2025(3).
2022 is being called a “high-stakes brand battleground”
for plant-based products. There is tremendous
potential to win over even more consumers.
Those who succeed in this next phase of innovation
will drive improvements in taste, texture and nutrition
profile to turn the curious flexitarians into loyal repeat
purchasers. What motivates consumers to try plantbased
protein is perceived health benefits. Taste is
A new gellan gum grade,
KELCOGEL DFA Gellan Gum,
has been developed for
replacing or reducing the
need for locust bean gum
(photo: CP Kelco)
16 · January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
