Soy is the dominant form of plant protein on the market, the research says.
Plant protein is projected to reach a global value of more than $10bn by 2020 as major players such as ADM, Cargill and DuPont compete for a significant share of the market, according to a new report.
Mordor Intelligence has forecast compound annual growth of 5.7% between 2015 and 2020, after the market was valued at $7.67bn for this year.
The current market share is dominated by North America, which is closely followed by Europe, while Asia-Pacific and other regions play a minor role. However, the Asia-Pacific market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 6.1% by 2020, Mordor Intelligence said. The potential for growth in the region is down to an increasing population, growing income per capita and an unorganised livestock production system.
Meat analogues and sports nutrition has the major share in the market, which is driven by the demand of growing health-conscious consumers. Bakery and sports nutrition products are growing at the fastest compound annual rate. Based on source type, the soy protein segment dominates the market share followed by the wheat protein segment. However, due to healthy nutritional profiles of pea and other vegetable protein, it is moving at the fastest rate. On the basis of type, the market is segmented into isolated protein, protein concentrate, and textured protein. Textured protein is mostly used in meat analogues, thereby making a good share in the market, by type. Protein isolate, being the purer form, has relatively higher costs and is used in mostly pharmaceutical applications and sports nutrition products, Mordor Intelligence said.
And the India-based insights company continued: “Plants differ from animals in their unique capability to synthesise all the important amino acids on their own. This offers a unique proposition to extract protein from the plant produce to be used as ingredients in various industries.
“Plant protein ingredients act as excellent substitutes to traditional meat-based protein ingredients. Increases in population, growing demand for protein products, and the attractive amino acid profile of plant proteins have increased the demand of plant protein ingredients in the market. The inclination of consumers towards plant proteins is driven by factors such as easy digestibility, sustainability in production, relatively cheaper prices, and ethical reasons for not choosing meat-based proteins. The extensive research to discover new sources and the need to improve the extraction techniques act as push factors for the increased usage of plant proteins.”
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