April 7, 2025 – Innova Market Insights issues its Top 10 Trends forecast each year to help predict the direction of the food and beverage marketplace for the coming year. The #5 trend for 2025 is Rethinking Plants, an acknowledgement of how plant-based continues to evolve. The most recent movement is toward using plants themselves in plant-based products. This can apple to standalone dishes, as well as meat substitutes and dairy alternatives.
Evolution of a Trend
Plant-based has been a part of Innova’s Top 10 Trends for several years. What has changed is the focus of plant-based launches. In previous years, the focus of plant-based innovation included mainstream products, wider distribution, better quality, expanded ingredient choices, and cost-effectiveness. This year is different because the industry has turned back to plants themselves in formulations that are more natural and authentic.
Artificiality – A Barrier to Purchase
When consumers are asked in consumer trends research about what they look for when shopping for plant-based products, many name naturalness. In fact, naturalness is the second most desired benefit after health and it is more important to consumers than environmental benefits are. Plant-based products today continue to use processed and artificial ingredients that turn off many consumers. The proportion of consumers saying that artificiality is a barrier to purchase rose between 2024 and 2025. Artificiality is the third-most important barrier to purchase of plant-based after price and taste.
Additives are another aspect of artificiality. A growing proportion of plant-based products, led by meat substitutes, carry a no additives or preservatives claim.
Balancing Substitution and Standalone
Today’s consumer is highly interested in plant-based products made with whole plant ingredients. Interest in imitations of meat and dairy products is waning. There is a 14-percentage-point difference between those who say plant-based foods should replace meat or dairy and those who want standalone plant-based products should stand alone instead of replacements.
Focus on Plants and the Natural World
Suppliers are responding to consumer desire for more plants in plant-based with several changes. They are formulating products with recognizable plant ingredients, shortening the ingredient list, adding more natural and fresh ingredients to prepared foods such as ready meals, diversifying away from products that imitate meat or dairy, and using authentic and artisanal ingredients and sourcing.
Plant Protein Diversity
The types of plant protein ingredients continue to change. Pea protein has taken over as the top plant protein in food and beverage products with a plant-based or vegan claim.
Soy protein is the second most widely used and wheat protein follows soy. However, Innova is monitoring the emergence of other plant proteins that could become the next generation of plant proteins, including fava bean, flaxseed, lentil, and sunflower protein. Fava bean protein is highly versatile and can be used in various types of meat substitutes, as well as other plant-based products calling for extra protein. Lentil protein may be used in dairy alternative creamers while sunflower protein has been spotted in egg and meat substitutes.
Moving Toward Natural Plant Foods
In addition to the growing use of plant proteins, new product launches also are using whole plant ingredients. Some examples include vegetable spreads made with beet or chestnut, especially in Europe. Kimchi is the focus of a growing number of product launches. These include kimchi on its own and also kimchi as an ingredient in meat substitutes and prepared meals. Nuts are a popular plant ingredient, especially pistachios and hazelnuts in dairy alternative drinks. In Asia, innovation can be found in dairy alternative drinks made with combinations of different nuts.
What’s Next in Global Plant-Based Trends?
A solid proportion of consumers participating in consumer trends research say that plant-based products can serve as replacements for meat and dairy. But an even larger proportion say that plant-based foods and ingredients should stand alone rather than be formulated to replace meat or dairy. This invites innovation by manufacturers to develop more plant-based products that are standalone. Since consumers are highly interested in plant ingredients, brands can highlight these ingredients and their unique features rather than limiting innovation to imitations of meat and dairy. Ready meals can be formulated with plant-based ingredients at the center of the plate; traceability of ingredients is important too.
Plant-based foods face a conflict between being natural and being highly processed to replicate meat or dairy. The opportunity for manufacturers is to simplify ingredients and processing, use natural rather than artificial or processed ingredients, shorten ingredient lists, and use ingredients that are recognizable and understandable to consumers.
Pulses and legumes offer a lot of opportunities for innovation. Fava bean, for example, has grown tremendously over a recent 10-year period. Pea protein offers a good example of a plant protein that was emerging and now is well-established. Alternative legumes such as fava bean and lentil are promising sources of plant protein.
Trends in plant foods evolve as some plant-based foods and ingredients become popular. These can be the base for new product innovation, for example, pistachio in plant-based milk alternatives and kimchi in standalone and mixed dishes. New plant ingredients and plant food trends present new opportunities.
This article is based on Innova’s Top Trends 2025: Trend #5 – Rethinking Plants – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more
