A lot of great things happened back in 2019. More people than ever voted in elections, there has been great progress in the fight against malaria in Asia, the rates of STDs in the United States have been declining, and more people have chosen solar energy as their primary energy source. And these are only some of the examples that we could think of. One of the best things that could have to happen for the plant-based food industry is it reaching the $5 billion mark. It seems that the popular vegan, vegetarian, keto, and paleo diets have done their thing for the plant-based food industry, and we have a clear view of what that means.

How did the plant-based food industry grow to $5 billion?

A plant-based diet is any diet that consists of foods that are derived from plant sources. The list includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, etc. including a long list of plant-based dairy products, meats, and milk that have been developed over the years. The development of these products has promoted the growth of the plant-based food industry and restraunts serving vegan dishes.
Vegan plant-based food.
According to the data that has been released by the trade group called Plant-Based Food Association (PBFA) and the advocacy group called The Good Food Institute (GFI), the plant-based food industry managed to beat its 2018 mark. Back in 2018, the plant-based food industry was worth approximately $4.5 billion. Things changed, and in 2019, its worth increased from $4.5 billion to amazing $5 billion! The retail sales of the plant-based food industry have grown an amazing 11.4 percent in the last year. If you are wondering how amazing these number actually are, let us inform you of the total U.S retail food market growth, that seems to only have grown 2.2 percent in dollar sales in the last year. It seems that the plant-based food industry continues to grow and expand over the years. Over the last two years, it has grown up to 29 percent, and it does not seem to want to give up, according to the new 2019 data. The plant-based food industry has continuous growth, and it is predicted to continue growing in the following years as well. For example, the plant-based meat industry is expected to reach and surpass the $1 billion mark by 2020! What has contributed the most to the growth of the plant-based food industry seems to be the plant-based milk followed by the plant-based meats and dairy products? For example, the sales of plant-based milk, such as almond and oat milk, which more and more people tend to add to their coffees and cereal instead of cow milk, have grown 5 percent over the past year. Now, the plant-based milk makes up to 14 percent of the entire milk category. This is certainly a good thing, thinking about all of the health benefits that come from eating more unprocessed, whole foods such as fresh fruits and veggies instead of eating processed, junk food all year long. One of the main reasons it seems that veganism is a growing trend. More and more people decide to do this radical change in their lives and turn to eat a plant-based diet only, excluding any use of dairy products and meat. There are also many people who are trying to lose weight or simply live a better and healthier life by relying on diet plans such as the famous keto diet or the Paleo diet. A major part of these diet plans revolves around eating plant-based foods because of its low-calorie and nutrient-dense nature. References https://www.forksoverknives.com/plant-based-primer-beginners-guide-starting-plant-based-diet/ https://plantbasedfoods.org/plant-based-foods-retail-sales-data-2020/ https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2020/sales-of-plant-based-foods-hit-5b/ https://www.gfi.org/blog-spins-data-release-2020 https://vegnews.com/2020/3/vegan-food-industry-is-now-worth-5-billion