Recent research shows the global plant-based meat market growing at a compound
annual growth rate of 15.8 percent, projected to reach $35.4 billion by
2027.
Barclays
estimated
in 2019 that the wider plant-based market could grow by over 1,000 percent over
the next ten years, reaching $140 billion by 2029. So, it’s no wonder more and
more food giants are positioning themselves to ride the wave.
IKEA menus to be 50% plant-based by 2025
Image credit: IKEA
IKEA announced today it is taking the next step towards making healthy,
sustainable food more affordable and desirable to the hundreds of millions of
people that enjoy its meals every year. By adding more plant-based options to
the menu in IKEA restaurants, the Swedish furniture giant hopes to inspire more
healthy and sustainable choices.
In addition to being the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, IKEA
operates what might be the world’s largest self-serve cafeteria. In 2019, over
680 million IKEA customers dined in IKEA restaurants, bistros and Swedish Food
Markets. As a global business, IKEA has a big responsibility — and opportunity –
to inspire and enable more healthy and sustainable lifestyles.
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IKEA’s new food commitments, announced today in connection to a pre-event for
the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, include that by 2025:
• 50 percent of main meals offered in the restaurants to be plant-based and
80 percent to be non-red meat
• 80 percent of all packaged food offered to be plant-based
• 80 percent of all main meals offered in the restaurants to fulfil the IKEA
Balanced Meal norm* for healthier food
Today, people with thin wallets have the hardest time affording healthy and
sustainable products and services. GlobeScan’s 2020 Healthy and Sustainable
Living
Study of
27,000 people across 27 countries — of which IKEA is a brand partner — confirmed
that three out of four people want to significantly reduce their impact on the
environment; and a significant number of meat eaters would be willing to switch
to plant-based alternatives if they taste equally good, and have the same price
and nutritional value.
The survey also showed that companies have an important role to play in turning
consumer thoughts and values into action, by making sustainable options more
affordable.
“IKEA wants to make healthy and sustainable choices the most desirable option —
by, for example, demonstrating that plant-based food can be really delicious.
Research confirms the importance of making sustainable products affordable and
desirable, and IKEA can really make a positive difference here. The more
sustainable choice shouldn’t be a luxury for the few. It should be part of
people’s everyday life,” says Lena Pripp-Kovac, Chief Sustainability Officer
at Inter IKEA Group.
IKEA’s test
kitchen, SPACE10,
has been developing dishes with alternative ingredients such
as insects,
algae
and lab-grown meat for years; and items such as veggie ball, a chicken ball, a
veggie hot dog and a salmon ball have made it to menus. In 2018, IKEA Canada’s
Head of Sustainability, Brendan Seale, explained the company’s role and its
ambition to help shape “the future of
food,”
as part of its broader People + Planet
Positive
sustainability strategy, at SB’18 Vancouver.
IKEA says its traditional meatball will stay on the menu. But it will be joined
by the recently released plant
ball, HUVUDROLL –
a more sustainable option for the many meatball lovers, with only 4 percent**
of the climate footprint of the traditional meatball — without compromising on
taste and texture.
More plant-based and healthier food options will continue to be rolled out in a
phased approach in IKEA restaurants and Swedish Food Markets.
*Healthier according to the IKEA Balanced Meal Norm: a science-based nutrition
assessment framework created by IKEA and used in product development to improve
the nutritional quality of meals and snacks in IKEA Food. The Balanced Meal Norm
means that meals meet requirements IKEA has set to manage the content of
calories (kcal), saturated fats, sugars, salt and fibre in the meal. These are
key nutrients to target to help children as well as adults to eat and live
healthier. The IKEA Balanced Meal Norm supports IKEA in developing meals that
have a balance in the content of these nutrients.
** Relates to the climate footprint of the ingredients only; and excludes
processing, transportation and storing.
Unilever sets bold new ‘Future Foods’ ambition
Image credit: Algenuity
Speaking of future foods,
Unilever has announced a new
annual global sales target of €1 billion from plant-based meat and dairy
alternatives, within the next five to seven years. The growth will be driven by
the roll-out of The Vegetarian
Butcher;
as well as increasing vegan alternatives from brands including Hellmann’s,
Magnum and Wall’s.
The target is part of Unilever’s ‘Future Foods’ ambition, launched globally last
week with two key objectives: to help people transition towards healthier diets
and to help reduce the environmental impact of the global food chain.
Unilever has also committed to:
-
Halve food waste in its direct global operations from factory to shelf by
2025 — five years earlier than previously committed, as part of the
Champions 12.3 coalition target.
-
Double the number of products delivering positive nutrition globally by
2025 — defined as products containing impactful amounts of vegetables,
fruits, proteins; or micronutrients including vitamins, zinc, iron and
iodine.
-
Continue lowering calorie, salt and sugar levels across products —
-
85 percent of Unilever’s global foods portfolio will help consumers
reduce their salt intake to no more than 5g per day (per WHO
recommendations) by 2022.
-
95 percent of Unilever’s packaged ice cream will not contain more than
22g of total sugar, and 250 Kcal per serving, by 2025. This is in
addition to the company’s children’s ice creams, which have been capped
at 110 kcal since 2014.
Transforming the global food system
“As one of the world’s largest food companies, we have a critical role to play
in helping to transform the global food
system,”
said Hanneke Faber, President of Unilever’s Foods & Refreshment Division.
“It’s not up to us to decide for people what they want to eat, but it is up to
us to make healthier and plant-based options accessible to all. These are bold,
stretching targets which demonstrate our commitment to being a force for good.”
Liz Goodwin, Senior Fellow and Director of Food Loss and Waste at World
Resources Institute, said: “Food loss and
waste
have massive impacts in terms of cost to the global economy, the environment and
society. We know that food loss and waste contribute about 8 percent of global
greenhouse emissions, as well as wasting the
land and water used in production of food. We need as many companies as possible
to step up and prioritise the issue of food loss and waste, and take action to
reduce it. It is great to see Unilever showing this sort of leadership. Given
the size and reach of Unilever, their commitment to halve food loss and waste
across their global operations will undoubtedly lead others to take action, as
well.”
New, plant-based innovations
Unilever has been expanding its plant-based meat and dairy alternatives business
for several years. After acquiring The Vegetarian Butcher in 2018, Unilever has
expanded the plant-based meat brand into more than 30 countries and was last
year chosen as the supplier of Burger King’s Plant-Based Whopper and
Plant-Based Nuggets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In ice cream, its first vegan
Magnum was awarded Best
Vegan Ice Cream in the UK by PETA in 2019. Both Hellmann’s Vegan Mayo
and Ben & Jerry’s Coconutterly Caramel’d Dairy-free were named as one of
Nielsen’s top 25 Breakthrough Innovations in Europe for
2020.
In 2019, Unilever made an €85 million investment in The
Hive
— a foods innovation center at Wageningen University in the Netherlands
— to support research into plant-based ingredients and meat alternatives,
efficient crops, sustainable food packaging and nutritious food.
And Unilever’s recent partnership with microalgae expert
Algenuity
marks an important step in making this critical shift toward the development of
sustainable food alternatives. Despite being packed full of protein,
antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, microalgae have never really made it into
the mainstream, principally because of their strong green color and bitter taste
and smell. Algenuity’s new Chlorella Colours® removes the unpalatable taste,
without reducing any of the microalgae’s valuable nutritional content. Their
emulsifying and enriching properties are similar to those of traditional
ingredients such as eggs; which means they can be used in a wealth of foods
including mayonnaise, soups, sauces, meat alternatives, baked goods and pasta —
making microalgae particularly relevant for Unilever brands such as Hellmann’s,
Knorr and the Vegetarian Butcher.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Nov 23, 2020 1pm EST / 10am PST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET