Vegan Cheese Industry Forecasted To Grow Over 300% by 2030

It’s no wonder people are increasingly ditching animal-based foods and turning to plant-based alternatives. The global pandemic, climate change, animal cruelty, and health are all factors precipitating the vegan movement and plant-based diet adoption worldwide.

Cheese is one of the staple animal-derived products losing favor as plant-based options get cheaper, taste better and become more widely available. A new report from data analysis firm Transparency Market Research (TMR) takes a comprehensive look at the vegan cheese market for projects it will grow by nearly 300 percent by 2030. 

TMR says that vegan cheeses continue to expand at an impressive rate particularly in North America and Europe. They point out that the increasing number of celebrities and influencers advocating for the consumption of vegan products is helping fuel demand. Almond-based cheeses are the most popular form of protein source holding 37 percent market share. As for product type, vegan mozzarella takes the largest market share at 34 percent.

Other plant-based food sectors, like alternative meats and milks, have performed stronger than plant-based cheese TMR points out. Still, vegan cheese sales grew 18 percent, versus dairy cheese which grew one percent, during a 53-week period ending December 2019 according to the  Plant-Based Food Association (PBFA) and The Good Food Institute (GFI). 

“Sensing the growing interest in vegan cheese, an array of vegan cheese brands have entered the global market due to which, the competition in the vegan cheese market is high,” the company said in their report released this week. “As the demand for vegan cheese grows at an exponential rate, plant-based cheese brands are currently expanding their production capacity to meet the demand.” 

Competition amongst vegan cheese brands is growing as food-tech startups promise a next-gen cheese that functions and tastes like the real thing.