A recent report published by Food Frontier outlines Australia’s $3 billion opportunity to grow its plant-based/alternative protein market.
The report showcases research conducted by Deloitte Access Economics on how the popularity of plant-based alternatives is increasing as numbers of consumers try out protein alternatives that are tasty, nutritious and familiar.
It
also outlines how growing consumer interest in alternative/plant proteins is an
economic opportunity for Australian farmers.
“Australia
has a massive opportunity to become a global plant-protein powerhouse, and the
great news is we already have the intellectual and infrastructure assets to
seize it,” Food Frontier CEO Thomas King said.
“Considering
the region we live in is home to more than half of humanity, investing in plant
proteins for the plant-based meat sector for both domestic and export markets
is a complementary opportunity for Australian farmers which sits alongside
traditional agriculture as a ‘value-add’,” King said.
As
protein alternatives are gaining in awareness, new offerings have arrived in grocery
and fast food retailers.
Leading
protein alternative company, Beyond Burger, hit Australian supermarket shelves
in December last year, joining 18 Australian protein alternative brands.
Following,
Australian fast-food chains have jumped at the opportunity to experiment with protein
alternatives. Beyond Burger is now sold at all Grill’d restaurants across
Australia, while Hungry Jacks launched its ‘Rebel Whopper’ featuring the V2food
plant-based burger, selling more than a million to date since ramping up
promotions.
Australian
fast food chain, Lord of the Fries, is a 100% vegan establishment that landed
in Melbourne in 2004 whose revenue grew by 25% in 2018.
“We
didn’t expect the level of growth that we’ve received, especially over the last
year. The business had been travelling along at a “normal” increase every year,
then in 2018 we saw a massive boom,” said CEO and co-founder Mark Koronczyk.
“We believe this was partly due to our exclusive partnership with the highly anticipated and globally recognised Beyond Meat, as well as the visible shift in attitudes towards plant-based foods and demand for ethical alternatives.”
Have you downloaded Food Frontier’s new report revealing Australia’s multi-billion-dollar plant-based meat opportunity? https://t.co/yomU93jY5j Now covered by Business Insider, ABC Radio, 9 News and many more. pic.twitter.com/glnMTC0t7y
— Food Frontier (@foodfrontierorg) September 5, 2019
Despite
growing consumer interest, there has been concern within the agriculture
community that alternative protein is taking profit away from Australian
farmers.
Addressing
these concerns, Food Frontier’s report recognises how protein alternatives provide
potential for Australian farmers to grow and supply new optimised crops as
inputs to these products.
Currently,
a great majority of protein alternative products consists of primarily imported
ingredients due to limited local ingredient supply. As domestic manufacturing
increases, demand for locally grown ingredients will incentivise greater
investment in domestic protein isolation operations.
“State
and federal governments have a key role to play in incentivising R&D and enabling
greater local infrastructure to support Australian farmers, food businesses and
everyone else tied to the supply chain to participate in this rapidly growing
and lucrative industry,” said Food Frontier King.
The
report identified Australia’s alternative protein industry as an emerging
sector, generating approximately $150 million in Australian retail sales,
almost $30 million in manufacturing and supporting 265 jobs in 2018-19.
By 2030, the report projects that if the current moderate growth trajectory continues, the sector will generate almost $3 billion in retail sales, over $1 billion in manufacturing and employ over 6,000 Australians.
