Business: Plant-based development regains momentum

From foodanddrinktechnology.com/news

Plant-based products now account for 13% of all new product development activity tracked by Point74, up from 11% in 2025, as the Midlands-based food tech firm reports a fresh surge in vegan innovation across its manufacturer customer base.

The company, which provides new product development software used by food and drink manufacturers, found that two-thirds of its customers had developed at least one vegan product this year.

Four clients had designated more than a fifth of their entire development pipeline as vegan suitable, while customers with large vegan portfolios saw plant-based development increase by an average of 5% on the previous year.

A shift in the pipeline

Rob Sinclair, CEO of Point74.

Rob Sinclair, CEO at Point74, said the data reflects a deliberate industry move rather than a passing trend.

“What our data shows is that manufacturers made a strategic commitment to vegan product development and this is now showing up clearly in the pipeline,” he said.

“While previous years had shown a plateauing in plant-based products, it is now gaining momentum once more in the food and drink sector, with consumers seeking them out in supermarkets across the country.”

Sinclair pointed to a mix of motivations behind the renewed demand. “Whether it’s people looking for more environmentally friendly produce, or those seeking a healthier option, this shift reflects a wider change in what consumers want from their food.”

Shelves catching up with software

The development data lines up with retail trends already visible on supermarket shelves. UK supermarkets saw chilled plant-based food sales rise by 1% last year, with growth accelerating to 1.7% in the final 12 weeks of 2025. Tesco reported plant-based mince sales up nearly 25%, alongside a 12% rise in plant-based proteins including tofu, tempeh and seitan.

Point74 expects manufacturers’ pipeline activity to continue feeding through to retail over the next 12 to 24 months, with shelves reflecting the shift already under way in development. Its customer base spans meat, snacking, bakery and prepared food categories, and includes Morrisons, Waitrose, Costa and Charlie Binghams.

Managing the complexity of compliance

Point74, which recently acquired Quor Systems, offers an end-to-end product lifecycle management platform giving manufacturers a centralised view of ingredients, compliance requirements and product specifications. Its software manages more than 50,000 ingredient specifications and supports the launch of more than 4,000 products annually across the sector.

Sinclair said the operational side of vegan development is where manufacturers are increasingly investing effort. “Getting vegan product development right is not always straightforward with ingredient substitutions, compliance requirements, labelling obligations and allergens all needing to be considered.

“The manufacturers doing this well are the ones who have the right systems to manage that complexity without slowing down their development process. As a result, they are best placed to capitalise on growing demand for plant-based products.”

Core to the pipeline

The picture Point74 paints is one of plant-based development moving from experimentation to embedded strategy, with a sizeable minority of manufacturers now treating vegan ranges as a core part of their pipeline rather than a peripheral one. The uptick from 11% to 13% is incremental on its own, but set against retail data showing accelerating chilled plant-based sales, it points to a sector re-committing after a period of plateau. The operational framing from Sinclair — compliance, labelling, allergens — also signals where the real competitive advantage is likely to sit: not in whether manufacturers develop vegan products, but in how efficiently they can manage the complexity of doing so at scale.

https://www.foodanddrinktechnology.com/news/70339/plant-based-development-regains-momentum/ 

The Hard Truth About Why The Vegan Restaurants We Love Keep Closing

From vegnews.com

By Ellen Kanner

Headline after headline. Goodbye post after goodbye post. News of shuttered plant-based restaurants doesn’t seem to end. But while the crisis is real, so is the determination. We spoke to the vegan restaurateurs working to hang on about what’s happening and what it’ll take to survive

"So many favourite restaurants just closed,” says vegan cookbook author and restaurateur Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Why is it happening? And is your favourite place on the list?

Pray 4 Me. That’s the name of the signature vegan burger by Souley Vegan chef-owner Tamearra Dyson. The chef who won Beat Bobby Flay. Sometimes it seems the vegan restaurant industry as a whole might be in need of prayer. The list of vegan restaurant closings in the past couple of years is long and, as Dyson puts it, “heartbreaking.” Among the casualties are iconic vegan restaurants like Chicago’s Kitchen 17, Inglewood, CA’s 18-year-old health food favourite Stuff I Eat, and Candle, a New York institution with origins dating back to 1990.

Dyson herself wound up closing Oakland, CA-based Souley Vegan in 2020, after 14 years of serving Pray 4 Me burgers plus an astonishing range of made-from-scratch, Creole-gone-vegan dishes from Southern fried tofu to red velvet cupcakes. “That was our home,” she says. “It’s where we built the brand.”

Souley Vegan

Dyson tried scaling down and setting up shop in a food court outside Oakland. But she admits, “I felt lost for some time.” She poured all her energy into making Souley Vegan succeed anyway. She tried doing take-out, she tried everything except adding meat to the menu—a strategy seemingly on the rise among some vegan restaurants in recent years. 

Just this last summer, formerly vegan ramen house Ippudo added animal ingredients to its previously vegan menu in Brooklyn. And of course, across the East River there are the headlines made by Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park after its return to animal protein after four years of plant-based dining. In Los Angeles, Sage Vegan Bistro, with a loyal vegan following, made the same choice, adding meat and dairy to the fully vegan menu it sold for 14 years and rebranded itself as Sage Regenerative Kitchen and Brewery in 2025. It lasted seven months. Owner Mollie Engelheart moved to Texas and became a cattle rancher. 

Dyson gets it. “I understand—you’re trying to feed your family and stay afloat from a business aspect, so don’t limit your clientele,” she says. “But the one thing vegan restaurants offer is the courage to offer a strictly vegan menu.”

Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Courage 

It’s taking a lot of courage these days. “So many favourite restaurants just closed—longstanding vegan restaurants,” says Isa Chandra Moskowitz, That includes her own restaurant Modern Love, which shuttered both its original Omaha location and its Brooklyn outpost in 2025. 

These closings reflect a trend. The US no longer leads the world in vegan-friendly cities. That honour goes to London and Berlin. Los Angeles has clawed its way back to third place after it was bumped out by Barcelona in 2025. But no one’s bringing out the confetti. For too many, running a vegan restaurant these days adds up to a constant cash flow crisis and a recipe for disaster. 

According to data from vegetarian restaurant guide HappyCow, New York was hit the hardest, going from 173 vegan restaurants in 2022 to 132 today. Portland, OR went from 61 to 46 during the same time frame. 

The challenges in running a restaurant, any restaurant, are the same challenge you face—skyrocketing food and fuel costs.

Then add on unique issues plaguing the food and beverage industry, including pricey leases, staffing challenges, the current administration’s aggressive anti-immigration efforts and its impact on restaurant personnel, and shifting population as people leave dining capitals like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Miami for more affordable locations.

Overall, diners are eating less, thanks to GLP-1 drugs, drinking less, dining out less, and ordering in more. And there’s the matter of what they’re choosing to eat.

“The protein craze,” says Vedge chef Rich Landau, rolling his eyes. He wishes he was talking about plant-based protein. He’s not.

Millennium

Still standing (on shaky legs)

When Vedge opened its doors in Philadelphia in 2011, it was one of the first plant-forward fine-dining restaurants. It may be among the last standing, along with New York’s Dirt Candy, Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles, and Oakland’s Millennium, with origins dating back to 1994.

Over the years, these four cutting-edge vegan restaurants have earned their fair share of awards—VegNews Restaurant Awards, Michelin Bibs, and James Beard nominations. But awards don’t cover payroll. 

After more than 30 years in business, Millennium struggled to survive. In 2015, it left its original San Francisco location and decamped to Oakland. Chef Eric Tucker tried everything—“a lower-price pasta special, Taco Thursday, a mushroom dinner, a winemaker dinner, some kind of revenue generator.” Still, admitted his business partner Alison Bagby, “It’s nearly impossible to make it work.” Then in early 2026, they admitted defeat and announced that the restaurant as fans had come to know it would cease to exist.

Minty Z

More than courage

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17 percent of all restaurants shutter within the first year of operation, and half close within the first five years. Franchises with a solid brand often fare better, but that’s no guarantee either. Take Canadian chain Planta. It once boasted three different upscale dining concepts and 18 high-design locations, from its Toronto flagships to a spate of Miami-area outposts. It filed for bankruptcy in 2025, was liquidated in 2026, and eventually closed its OG Canadian locations to focus on its remaining five sites in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and the DMV area.

Running an iconic vegan restaurant takes more than prayer—more than courage. “It’s not one-solution-fits-all,” says Moskowitz. 

“Every business has to decide what it’s willing to change—their business, location, style of food, ingredients.”

She’s left restaurant work entirely—at least for now—and is back to writing cookbooks with her twelve title, 29-Minute Vegan.

In 2023, popular Miami dim sum restaurant Minty Z opened a second spot in Midtown Miami. It had enjoyed success at its original location in the city’s relaxed, bohemian Coconut Grove neighbourhood and hoped to find more clientele in a new, bustling, live-work-play district. But struggling to fight against a floundering economy and strong corporate competition, the Midtown location closed after just six months. The next year, the original location followed suit, unable to recover from the doubled overhead, rising operating costs, and slower foot traffic. Not to be discouraged, the restaurant pulled up its Miami stakes, moved to Los Angeles, and rebranded itself as Men and Beasts. Same husband and wife team, same dynamite dumplings, different coast.

Dirt Candy

Dirt Candy chef-owner Amanda Cohen keeps her menu as playful as it was when she opened (fennel funnel cake, anyone?). But now Dirt Candy serves a more cost-effective prix-fixe-only menu. Where Cohen goes big is on policy. She championed eliminating tipping in favour of staff profit-sharing, and co-founded the restaurant advocacy non-profit Independent Restaurant Coalition.

That a plant-based diet is compassionate, sustainable, and comes with wellness benefits isn’t in question. But “it’s a business kiddo,” Landau says. “You’ve got to know what you’re doing. Never take your eye off the ball.” Or in his case, never take your eye off the plates. He watches what comes back to the dish room after each meal to assess which of his dishes are selling and which aren’t. The charred delicata squash with hominy fritters may make the angels sing, but if not enough people order it, Landau takes it off the menu. “It’s about changing, adapting yourself, your business.” he says. “You grow and you learn.”

Joy Cafe

Second acts and third place 

Restaurants serve food. That’s their purpose. But some chefs and restaurateurs take their purpose beyond the plate. They serve the community. There’s few better examples than Philadelphia’s Joy Cafe, and the joyful dynamo who runs it, Alice Leung. Leung’s gift for creating a sense of welcome, for offering true hospitality has nourished guests for over 20 years. From providing free meals for first responders and those in need during the pandemic to popping cheerful notes inside each takeout order, every Joy Cafe order comes with a little free joy. “That’s always been our mission,” says Leung. Profitable? Not always. Worth doing? For Leung and the community she feeds, absolutely. 

Joy Cafe is what every restaurant strives to be—a third place: a place that’s not home, not work, a place where people go by choice to gather, whether to celebrate, strategize, comfort each other, or just relax and eat. Apps like DoorDash and UberEats can get your next meal, but restaurants like Joy Cafe have a loyal following for a reason. They feed the human need for connection. In Denver, that’s the inspiration and hope behind the newly opened Mother Other, too. The potato-chive pierogi may draw guests, but what Chef Alexi Mandolini and Beverage Director Taylor Herbert are really striving for is what they call radical hospitality. That’s what keeps a vegan restaurant alive. 

Souley Vegan

It’s even given Oakland’s Souley Vegan and Millennium a second life. People missed Souley Vegan’s Pray 4 Me burgers and Millennium’s crusted mushrooms, but just as much, they missed the welcoming vibe and warm service these restaurants offer. Thanks to support, both emotional and financial, both restaurants were able to reopen within the past year.

Millennium, like Dirt Candy, now offers prix fixe plus a small à la carte menu including the crusted mushrooms, a longtime fan favourite. Souley Vegan has set its roots back down in Oakland, just two blocks up from its original location, for what Dyson calls Souley Vegan’s rebirth.

Dyson’s year of “feeling a little lost” taught her a lot—the hard way, she notes, laughing. The challenges are still there. The trick, she says, is getting the balance right between “giving the community what they love and then scale it so it works—so we don’t lose momentum and stay financially sustainable. It’s all in the details.”

And all in the diners. Every order of crusted mushrooms, every Pray 4 Me burger supports your favourite vegan restaurant, supports your local community and the vegan community as a whole. Be there for the vegan restaurants that have been there for you. Despite the odds, they’re here, they’re vegan, and they’re proud of it. 

“We stand by that 100 percent,” Dyson says.

https://vegnews.com/the-hard-truth-about-why-vegan-restaurants-keep-closing

California's once-thriving vegan scene is quickly disappearing

From sfgate.com

By Karen Palmer

"I don't know if I'm coming back."

In 2022, comedian and actor Kevin Hart debuted an ambitious concept: an entirely vegan fast-food chain named Hart House. Its first location opened to huge fanfare (and long lines) mere blocks away from the ever-busy In-N-Out near Los Angeles International Airport. Three more Los Angeles outposts quickly followed, and for a moment, it felt like Hart had finally given approachable everyday vegan food the spotlight it had long deserved.

But in September 2024, the chain shuttered seemingly overnight.

It may have been a harbinger of things to come for vegan restaurants across California, as many meatless eateries have shuttered, some after decades in operation, in 2026. 

While San Francisco-born Cafe Gratitude and alternative protein companies like Beyond Meat once led the charge for vegan alternatives to casual food, it’s clear that the golden age for the category has dimmed considerably. These days, the family behind Cafe Gratitude has gone all in on cattle ranching, and Beyond has since rebranded, betting big on a new line of “clean” protein drinks.

In Los Angeles, traditionally a haven for alternative eating, 16-year-old vegan Mexican restaurant Un Solo Sol in Boyle Heights announced on Instagram that its final day of service will be Sept. 28. 

                                   Dishes from vegan restaurant Un Solo Sol in Los Angeles.   Danny C. via Yelp

Owner Carlos Ortez told SFGATE that the closure is part of a bigger global economic crisis affecting all small businesses. 

 “Our industry is vulnerable by the very fact that going to a restaurant should not be a luxury, but it’s now a luxury in these times when everybody has a big drop in their incomes,” Ortez said. “Their budgets are so tight that they cannot afford going out, to relax, to have a good time with friends.”

He added: “It’s even more difficult because the market for veganism is smaller. It’s very specific, not broad like a hamburger. It’s this tiny option compared to that monster option in the middle of a crisis, so it’s impossible that we would not be affected. It’s why vegan restaurants are closing.”

Ortez is right. The Vegan Joint, a plant-based vegan Thai chain, announced in late August that it would close its three Southern California locations serving the likes of Kra Pow burgers in Downtown LA, West LA and Woodland Hills. And after years of growth, vegan fast food brand Monty’s Good Burger closed half of its locations in early 2026, leaving only outposts in Koreatown and Echo Park.

                 Exterior signage for, left, and dishes from the Vegan Joint in Los Angeles. Michael S/Danny T. via Yelp

In Northern California, Saluhall, the struggling Ikea-adjacent and plant-forward food hall that debuted in downtown San Francisco in 2024, has shuttered most of its eateries, including Casa Borinqueña, a meat-free Puerto Rican concept that closed in January. The food hall’s operator, British developer Kerb Food, parted ways with the project in November. (The beverage arm of a local hospitality group has since taken over three bars at Saluhall.) 

The ordering area, left, and dishes from the now-shuttered Puerto Rican vegan restaurant Casa Borinqueña in Saluhall in San Francisco.    Robin M/Hilary P. via Yelp

Over in Oakland, legendary upscale vegan restaurant Millennium closed temporarily in May, then reopened with a more scaled-back menu and fewer seats in June. After introducing meat and cheese to its menu to combat sluggish sales in January, the long-time plant-based smashburger joint Malibu’s Burgers shuttered in Uptown Oakland in June. Sage Vegan Bistro, once a staple of Los Angeles with multiple locations, tried a similar tactic in 2024, adding meat to the menu and enraging its fanbase; the restaurant group closed entirely in early 2025. Once-vegan Burgerlords did the same at its long-time Highland Park location in 2023 before closing.

In San Diego, ambitious vegan restaurants Dreamboat and Vulture from well-known local restaurateurs — plant-based entrepreneur Kory Stetina of Kindred and Mothership, and Arsalun Tafazoli of CH Projects, who is also known for the newly revamped Lafayette Hotel and Club and the Little Italy standby Born & Raised — closed their doors in University Park in February after less than a year in operation. 

Vegan chain Loving Hut, which, at 16 years, was one of San Diego’s longest-running fully vegan joints, shuttered its North Park location in May, while vegan Mexican restaurant El Veganito served its final order of “phish” tacos at the Grossmont Center in La Mesa on Aug. 22.

The squeeze on plant-based food has been felt in other areas of the state as well. When a popular local vegetarian restaurant shuttered after 12 years in business this summer, Sacramento Bee food writer Sean Timberlake headlined a June 26 column: “After Mother’s closure, what’s next for vegan dining in Sacramento?”

Many of the owners of the closed or closing restaurants have cited financial woes as a major contributor to the businesses’ demise, although the past few years have presented unprecedented challenges to the state’s restaurants across the board, from the lingering effects of the pandemic to the staggering price increases for ingredients and supplies. Vegan restaurants certainly aren’t the only ones who have felt the pinch, as closures have been, sadly, commonplace across cuisines and price points.

Other factors may be at play as well: In early January, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a new food pyramid that heavily emphasizes protein, full-fat dairy without added processed sugars and “healthy fats” from ingredients like meat, seafood, eggs, nuts and avocado. Some fast food brands like Midwestern burger favourite Steak ’n Shake have latched onto the new plan, leaning into the “Make America Healthy Again” movement with vigour.

Then there’s the rise of so-called “protein-maxxing,” a social media trend that suggests that overloading one’s protein intake can help increase metabolism and weight management. Whether due to the trend or not, meat sales are thriving. In a May 19 news release, the American Farm Bureau Federation said, “Industry analysis shows meat sales hit $112 billion in 2025, with more than 98% of American households purchasing meat for daily meals. USDA is forecasting consumption of beef, pork and chicken to rise in 2026.” And that’s even with the average retail price of beef up 13% over 2025.

                       The dining room, left, and a dish from Millennium in Oakland, Calif.    Bridget W/J. Beatrice L. via Yelp

Despite America’s animal-based consumption, the health effects of eschewing meat and dairy have been documented over the years. A recent study from researchers at UC San Diego and University of Freiburg in Germany found that switching to a vegan diet can “alter the body’s epigenetic landscape in ways associated with reduced inflammation and biological aging.” The data suggest that the participants experienced a deceleration in biological aging over the course of a month. 

Still, veganism has always comprised a tiny sliver of the population. A 2023 Gallup poll estimated that only 1% of Americans identify as vegan, leaving plant-based-branded businesses to fight for a small piece of the dining ecosystem. That kind of narrow focus is turning out to be increasingly hard to maintain.

Kayla de la Haye, a public health professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has researched plant-based food and can see the challenges a vegan restaurant might face. 

In one of her recent studies of a national sample of adults, participants were shown two food baskets, one with meat and cheese and the other with plant-based foods like hummus and olives. When the basket was labelled as “vegan” or “vegetarian,” only about 20% of people selected it as the one they wanted. When it was labelled “healthy” or “sustainable,” that figure doubled.

“The effect was strongest for people who said they were meat eaters,” de la Haye told SFGATE. “Meat eaters are really turned off by something that looks delicious but is labelled vegan or vegetarian.”

“We’ve also done qualitative work interviewing people and asking them what they think about plant-based foods, and really unprompted people unleashed a whole bunch of negative views on veganism and vegetarianism,” she said, adding that plant-based diets are associated with the left in an increasingly polarized political climate. “They think it’s really extreme.”

De la Haye also throws GLP-1s into the mix of hurdles that vegan restaurants are facing right now.

“Over 10% of the population is on GLP-1s now, and they’re being told to eat more protein with every meal,” she said. “Generally, the protein available on the market is animal-based.”

For restaurant owners like Ortez of Un Solo Sol, the support he’s received from the LA community in the wake of announcing the closure has been bittersweet. Fans have flocked to the Boyle Heights restaurant for a final meal, filling up tables that were previously going empty.

“Even with that huge turnout that they’ve shown since the announcement, I still have to retreat at least for a while,” he said. “I do not know if I’m coming back.”

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/california-vegan-restaurants-closing-22431879.php

Beans Lead UK’s Plant-Based Food Growth As Shoppers Shun Meat & Vegan Alternatives

From greenqueen.com.hk

Legumes, tofu and tempeh are driving the resurgence of the UK’s plant-based protein sector, with conventional and vegan meat falling out of favour due to health and price concerns.

As meat prices continue to climb and vegan alternatives suffer from the ultra-processed tag, whole-food and minimally processed plant proteins are surging in the UK.

Madre Brava’s analysis of NielsenIQ data shows that, in the first half of 2026, unit sales of beans, pulses, tofu and tempeh grew by 7.3% compared to the same period a year ago, with value sales also up by 10.1%.

Plant-based meat alternatives, however, continued their slide with a 4.3% decline in units and 2.7% in value, though there was respite for mycoprotein (whose unit sales increased by 2.7%) and vegetable-led analogues like sausages and pies (+24.6% from a small base).

It’s not just vegan alternatives that suffered – sales of conventional meat products dipped by 1.8% during this period, according to Madre Brava’s review of Euromonitor International figures.

“Shoppers are not abandoning plant proteins – they’re shifting toward simpler, higher-fibre foods, whose prices are rising more slowly than food inflation, widening the price gap with meat. This indicates that, while food inflation and affordability remain key factors, nutrition and health benefits are also driving purchasing decisions,” the report noted.

Growth across budget and premium bean categories

Courtesy: Madre Brava

Within the traditional plant protein category, retailers sold 16.7% more units of dried beans, peas and lentils, with similar increases for canned and jarred beans (6.4%), tofu (7.2%), and tempeh (71.5%).

Textured vegetable proteins made from soy, wheat or pea experienced an 11.7% reduction in unit sales, while baked beans saw a 4.2% drop. The latter came as Brits switched from individual to multi-pack purchases, while the overall reduction came from beans that contained sausages or other processed meats.

While standard baked bean options declined in value, organic versions grew by 9.7% in unit sales. “These exemplify consumer shifts more generally, as shoppers seek healthier products, budget savings, and the success of ‘premium beans’ at the higher end of the market,” Madre Brava said.

Courtesy: Bold Bean Co

Health may just be the top driver, considering that the bean category is expanding at both the budget and premium ends. For four of the six canned and jarred bean segments (including chickpeas and butter beans) that saw a hike in demand, the price per unit lifted faster than inflation, indicating that people are spending more on premium options in these categories.

Brits’ appetite for premium beans has been driven by the popularity of London-based Bold Bean Co, which has witnessed a year-on-year growth of 117% since its launch in 2021. Such has been its success, retailers have begun coming out with jarred beans under their own-label brands.

“The canned pulses category is undergoing a real transformation,” said Beth Latham, the brand’s head of category and strategic projects. “It was previously a dusty, highly commoditised aisle in the store that lacked innovation. However, over the last few years, the premium end of the category has reshaped how consumers think about beans, proving they are delicious and can be the hero of a meal.”

Chloe Mackean, food business transformation manager at the UK’s Food Foundation (whose Bang in Some Beans initiative aims to double national legume intake by 2028), said she wasn’t surprised to see beans’ ascendancy.

“Beans are a triple win for health, sustainability and our wallets. They are a healthy and affordable protein source, high in fibre and emit far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than animal protein,” she pointed out. “But beans are also tasty, and it is thanks to brands like Bold Bean Co, who pepper social media with photos of delicious bean recipes, that have helped to change people’s perception.”

Oat milk dominates as supermarkets urged to embrace plant proteins

Moreover, the report looked at the performance of plant-based dairy, which decreased by just under 1% in unit sales but increased in value by 4.4%. Milk alternatives now account for 7% of the overall milk market, although sales flatlined in the first six months of 2026.

                                                                                                Courtesy: Madre Brava

Oat milk continues to dominate with a 2.7% hike in unit sales, just as nut milks sold 2.5% better too. But purchases of soy and rice milk fell by 8.4% and 9.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the performance of plain vegan yoghurt and non-dairy cream improved by 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively, with declines for flavoured yoghurts (-4%) and cheese (-11.2%).

Plain yoghurt is sold in larger packs in the UK, so the shift is likely to be larger in volume than unit demand. “The switch is an indication that some consumers are prepared to pay for healthier products, as the price per unit rose 4.5% for flavoured yoghurts, which contain added sugar, and 8.1% for plain yoghurt, which is lower in sugar,” the report stated.

Madre Brava has been working with other groups to urge retailers to embrace plant proteins and to ensure they account for 30% of their protein sales by 2030. A recent report co-authored by the organisation found that this would achieve 64% of supermarkets’ supply chain emissions reduction targets, while saving money on climate measures.

Lidl blasted past its target to increase alternative meat and dairy sales by 400% by 2025, recording a 694% hike since 2020. It also rolled out 20 own-brand plant-based products to encourage more consumers to eat more such foods. Tesco, which missed its sales goal for meat alternatives last year, reported that the sector was “back in growth”, with sales of vegan mince up by nearly 25% and whole-food proteins by 12%.

And Sainsbury’s has launched a Full on Fibre label to highlight high-fibre products, which include fruits, vegetables and plant proteins like beans and tempeh, building on the fibremaxxing trend that has engulfed the food industry.

“The bounce back in plant-based sales shows consumers are choosing foods that are a win for their health, their budgets and can compete on taste,” said Madre Brava’s UK director, Sara Ayech.

“Supermarkets account for more than 80% of our calorie intake. They can help drive this trend by ensuring a growing range of products that are the most convenient and appealing options for flexitarian customers, who want to eat more plants to fulfil nutrition goals. Setting targets for increasing the mix of plant proteins can also help retailers meet healthy sales and sustainability targets.”

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/uk-plant-based-food-sales-growth-beans-meat-alternatives-tofu/ 

Ready-to-Drink Red Velvet Lattes

From trendhunter.com

Jolene Red is a Decadent, Cocoa-Rich Red Velvet Oat Milk Latte 

Jolene Coffee, the concert-ready canned coffee brand created by Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis and friend Shane Powers, introduced itself to live music lovers with classic Jolene Black (cold brew) and Jolene White (oat milk latte) varieties, and now, Jolene Red has joined the line-up. This indulgent ready-to-drink coffee beverage offers a dressed-up take on the classic oat milk latte, and riffs on the colour theme across the line-up in the form of a red velvet oat milk latte with lightly sweet, rich cocoa notes.

Alongside its decadent new Jolene Red Velvet Oat Milk Latte, Jolene Coffee expanded its line-up with Jolene Gold, a salted caramel oat milk latte, and Jolene Blue, a hazelnut oat milk latte. As evidenced by its choice of milk, the options across the range are vegan-friendly.

                                                                                   From: Red Velvet Milk Teas

Why This Trend Is Growing

Dessert-inspired Coffee

Decadent flavours like red velvet, salted caramel, and hazelnut signal potential for premium RTD coffee products that blur the line between café beverages and indulgent treats.

Color-coded Beverage Lines

Distinctive colour-based product naming creates shelf impact and collectible appeal, opening space for beverage brands to build memorable flavour systems.

Vegan Ready-to-drink Lattes

Oat milk-based canned lattes reflect growing demand for dairy-free convenience, positioning plant-based formats as mainstream premium coffee options.

Industries Being Reshaped

Ready-to-drink Beverages

Flavoured canned coffee formats are expanding beyond functional caffeine into lifestyle-led products with stronger branding, taste experimentation, and occasion-based appeal.

Plant-based Food

Dairy-free latte innovation shows how oat milk can support richer, dessert-like beverage profiles while appealing to vegan and flexitarian consumers.

Music and Entertainment

Celebrity-backed coffee brands tied to concert culture highlight opportunities for lifestyle products that connect fandom, beverages, and live-event consumption.

https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/jolene-red