Introducing FoodNavigator-USA’s free editorial webinar: Plant-Based Dairy – From Oatmilk to Chickpea Ice Cream on May 17 at 11:30 CT

24-Apr-2023 - Last updated on 24-Apr-2023 at 16:00 GMT

Sales of plant-based dairy, including milk, cheese and yogurt, continue to grow at a rapid clip despite challenging macroeconomic and market conditions, but units in some categories are dipping slightly, according to recently released SPINS data, raising questions about the category’s long-term trajectory.

According to SPINS data presented by the Good Food Institute in its recently published 2022 Plant-Based State Of The Industry Report, combined sales of plant-based milk, cheese and yogurt grew 7% from 2021 to 2022 to reach $21.6 billion. While good on paper, this growth mostly came from inflation-driven price increases, and units across plant-based dairy categories fell over the past year, with few exceptions.

For example, plant-based milk is the most developed of all plant-based categories, with dollar sales up 9% year-over-year and 36% on a three year stack to reach $2.8b in 2022. But in 2022 the category’s unit growth, which is up 19% on a three-year basis, fell 2% from 2021 to 2022.

This reversal is reflected across many plant-based dairy categories, including plant-based yogurt which saw sales climb 5% in the past year to $425m, but also tracked at 5% decline in units in the same period after units grew 16% on a three-year basis. Plant-based butter also saw year-over-year sales increase 15%, but units drop 11%.

Some non-dairy categories saw their sales take a hit in addition to their units, including plant-based frozen yogurt, sales of which fell 4% and units fell 9%, and plant-based cheese, sales of which dropped 2% and units dropped 5% in the past year.

There are, however, a few bright spots within non-dairy where both sales and units increased in 2022, including plant-based cream cheese, which saw sales climb 7% and units increase 2%, and plant-based creamer, sales of which increased 24% and units ticked up 12%, according the GFI report.

But what is driving these numbers, beyond inflation, and what do they say about the future of plant-based dairy overall, including what is and isn’t working? And what does it say about long-term consumer demand, where there is room for innovation and growth as the economy stabilizes and shoppers once again have more discretionary spending money?

To find out, FoodNavigator-USA is gathering a panel of experts from across the plant-based dairy industry to explore the latest developments, market potential, technical challenges and consumer attitudes towards the category in a free one-hour webinar – Plant-Based Dairy: From Oatmilk to Chickpea Ice Cream.

Join us May 17 for this one-hour online event at 11:30 ET to hear from:

Bethany Gomez, managing director, The Brightfield Group,
Damian Piedrahita, co-founder and CEO, Mwah!,
Stephanie Banham, CEO and co-founder, KiddiWinks,
Andrew Yu, CEO, Armored Fresh,
Andre Menezes, CEO and co-founder, Next Gen Foods.

Moderated by FoodNavigator-USA Senior Editor Elizabeth Crawford, this guided conversation will take a deep dive into different parts of the plant-based dairy segment, including cheese, milk, frozen dessert and more. The panel will also address questions from attendees, who have a chance to submit burning questions when the register for the free event.

Learn more and register today for this free event. If you can’t make the time – register anyways and we will send you a recording of the event that you can watch on demand at your convenience.