18 March 2021

According to Deloitte Access Economics, the Australian plant-based protein market could generate $3 billion in retail sales by 2030 and employ 6000 people. But do the products pass the taste test?

Plant-based meat alternatives are becoming more mainstream. Where once lone slabs of tofu were the only protein-based vegan alternative to meat, supermarket fridge and freezer sections now have an array of products from sausages and burgers to ‘chicken’ schnitzels and nuggets and even pepperoni.

Even fast food giant Hungry Jacks now offers a plant-based burger, the Rebel Whopper, with the catchphrase, ‘tastes just like a Whopper.’

But does it?

While the answer to that question relies a lot on subjectivity, Nick Halla from one of the leading plant-based meat alternative companies, Impossible Foods, is quoted in this article as saying, ‘Tasting is believing. More than 90 per cent of our consumers are self-identified meat eaters. This means that not only are we satisfying our target audience, but once they try it, they’re very likely to come back.’

Speaking of taste, the European Commission has awarded a multi-million-dollar research grant to determine whether higher animal welfare standards improve the taste of meat.

You can read about the project in this Food Navigator article.