British multinational consumer goods company Unilever has announced its intentions to expand its range of plant-based foods. With people lowering their meat intake, or opting for a vegan lifestyle, CEO Alan Jope called the rise of plant-based foods an “inexorable” trend. He said, “We are seeing in every single country in the world a shift towards more plant-based diets, even in emerging markets.”
Plant-based foods is a wide, and growing market and bodes really well for the company's ambitions. Especially in India, which has the highest percentage of a vegetarian population. Not just the food market, Unilever also intends to cash in on the big growth areas of beauty and nutritional supplement markets. The group, which is accountable for numerous household names like Ben & Jerry's, Dove, Pond's, intends to grow a £865 million a year plant-based foods business in the coming five to seven years. In an interview with Bloomberg, Jope said that plant-based products will be one of the top five global categories that the group will focus on in the coming future, alongside functional nutrition driven by the macro trend of health and well-being.
He said, “As you'll know there is a secular trend toward us all eating a little more of a plant-based diet and we see all our vegetarian and vegan offerings growing very quickly.” The first step to this plan is to offer plant-based versions of existing brands. Jope said, “The first thing we're concerned to do is to make sure that our big brands like Knorr and Hellmans have got attractive plant-based offerings.”
Unilever already owns meat substitute brand The Vegetarian Butcher. Jope said the company will “continue to roll out the Vegetarian Butcher into more places both in retail and in partnership with our quick service restaurant partners.” Unilever has also reportedly invested in a food innovation centre at Wageningen University in the Netherlands for research in developing new products.
