Investors May Not Want to Ignore the Plant Boom

Demand for plant-based products is only growing.  Everywhere you look these days, there’s a plant-based product.  Cosmetics, retailers, food chains.  All as people around the world begin to adopt healthier, meat-free lifestyles.  What you’re seeing is just the beginning of a larger, stronger trend that’s not likely to fade.

Look at food products for example.  According to an early 2020 by Ipsos Retail Performance, as noted by The Beet, over 9.7 million Americans now follow a plant-based diet up from just 290,000 in 2004.  Tyson, Smithfield, Perdue, Hormel, and Nestle are incorporating plant-based products.  Even fast food chains are jumping on the bandwagon.  McDonald’s for example just announced a meatless burger called the McPlant.  Pizza Hut just partnered with Beyond Meat to offer plant-based pizzas across the country.

However, it’s not just food products seeing stronger demand.  The cosmetics industry is also seeing it.  “We know consumer interest in sustainability and vegan-friendly formulae is increasing,” says Jenni Middleton, director of beauty at the trend forecasting company WGSN, as quoted by  Vogue. “People will shun animal-derived ingredients as they now understand the zoonotic origins of coronavirus, and want to turn to nature’s apothecary to provide tried, tested and time-honored beauty and wellness solutions.”

There’s so much demand, the plant-based cosmetics market could be worth up to $20.8 billion over the next five years, according to Grand View Research.  In addition, “Consumers are shifting their preference from chemical-based beauty products, owing to safety reasons, and are drawn towards ‘natural’ and ‘safe’ products. This, in turn, is likely to drive the adoption of vegan beauty products in the coming years. Furthermore, a growing number of social media channels and beauty bloggers are promoting makeup hacks using vegan beauty products. This, in turn, is boosting manufacturers of vegan beauty products,” added Prophecy Market Insights.