Top 3 Trends Revamping the Food and Beverage Industry

Innovation is at its prime in the food and beverage industry, and it dramatically shifts what the companies are producing this year and beyond.

FREMONT, CA: The growth of alternative products is accelerating in 2020, but space has expanded beyond the plant-based burgers and beef products that dominated last year. Although faux burgers are still famous, companies experiment with ingredients outside of pea proteins, such as mushrooms and chickpeas, to fill the patty. In the diary space, alternative products is witnessing better innovation in texture, nutrition, and ingredients, bringing more challenges for its already troubled traditional competitors.

Here are a few trends that is impacting the food and beverage industry.

[vendor_logo_first]Beyond peas

In 2019, consumers embraced plant-based meats, ensuring that this way of eating is not just a fad. But this rising movement will see a shift beyond the current “it” ingredient: pea protein. While soy has been a standard meat analog for years, pea protein has been a critical building block to many plant-based meat items. It is the foundation of Beyond Meat’s products and the base for Lightlife’s Plant-Based Burger and Nestlé’s Awesome Burger. 

Telling a story with cannabis

Despite the regulatory issues, analysts predict that companies will push past that by formulating a marketing strategy that tells a story about the substance and educating consumers on the various types of cannabinoids. 

As regulation remains complicated in the U.S., numerous companies and regulators observe the cannabis space in Canada since the country has started to allow cannabis-infused products — edibles, topicals, beverages, and extracts — to be sold in stores. The results of that roll out could impact the future of food in the U.S.

More than a burger

In grocery stores, at restaurants nationwide and even at theme parks, consumers could easily pick up plant-based options that look and taste like ground beef.

The plethora of plant-based burger options is welcome news to all the vegans and consumers looking to reduce their meat intake alike. However, burgers and ground beef are just one small sector of the meat options out there. As 2020 dawned, there were few options for consumers looking for alternatives, like products imitating chicken or fish.

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