The Good Food Institute — a nonprofit that promotes plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs — has published the results of its newest State of the Industry Report, and it shows continued considerable gain in the alternative proteins market.
Summarizing the report’s results, GFI’s data showed that investment in alternative protein — which encompasses plant-based and cell-based totaled a record $930 million in the first quarter of 2020. That exceeds $824 million in investment the segment received in all of 2019, and by 11 percent.
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In 2019, the largest single investment in this area was $300 million initial public offering raised by Impossible Foods, with Beyond Meat’s $290 million close behind. Those two were by far the top fundraisers, with Nutpods in third at $33.6 million raised in 2019, followed by Alpha Foods’ $30.6 million and Ripple Foods’ $11.9 million. GFI identified five other plant-based food producers that raised between $7 million to $10 million of capital in 2019.
GFI’s data said that US plant-based meat retail sales grew by 18 percent in 2019 to $939 million. The group adds that sales significantly accelerated when COVID-19-induced buying began, pointing to data that shows plant-based meat sales have significantly outperformed outstripped conventional meat since the end of February.
