Opportunities in the Global Meat Substitutes Sector 2025

Provides an overview of current meat substitutes scenario regarding the future outlook in terms of ingredients, product claims, labeling, distribution, and packaging. The analysis also covers regional overview across five regions - Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Americas, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe - highlighting industry size, growth drivers, latest developments, and future inhibitors for the regions.

The global meat substitutes market was valued at $8.8 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $12.4 billion in 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1%. This growth is being fueled by increasing health and environmental concerns, along with shifting consumer lifestyles toward more sustainable and plant-based food choices. In 2024, soy-based products led the market by value, followed by grain-based alternatives. Regionally, the Americas and Western Europe emerged as the dominant markets, accounting for 38.1% and 37.1% of the global market value, respectively. The industry remains highly fragmented, with the top five companies collectively holding 27% of the total market share. Monde Nissin emerged as the leading company in 2024. Flexible packaging was the most commonly used format, capturing an 81.9% share, largely due to its cost-effectiveness and design flexibility. In terms of distribution, modern retail channels led the market, reflecting consumers' preference for convenience and accessibility.

The meat substitutes market is expanding rapidly, driven by demand for healthier and more sustainable food options. These products use plant-based proteins such as soy, peas, and lentils, combined with natural flavors and colorings to replicate the taste and texture of meat. Claims like "vegan" and "100% plant-based" are gaining popularity. Regulatory guidelines emphasize clear labeling to avoid consumer confusion. Additionally, growing interest in eco-friendly packaging and convenient, ready-to-eat formats is shaping product innovation to meet evolving consumer preferences.

Scope

This report brings together multiple data sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the global meat substitutes sector, analyzing data from 94 countries. It includes analysis on the following -

• Global snapshot: Includes executive summary, current sector scenarios in terms of ingredients, manufacturer claims, labeling, and packaging. The section also touches on the key growth enablers and inhibitors for the meat substitutes sector.
• Sector snapshot: The analysis provides a global overview, along with regional and category-level data and analysis. It also includes regional overview across five regions-Americas, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Western Europe-highlighting sector size and evolution, value and volume shares by category, and growth drivers for each region.
• Consumer trends: Provides an overview of evolving consumer trends, supported by GlobalData's in-house consumer surveys, and product examples.
• Country deep-dive: Provides risk-reward analysis of the top high-potential countries in each region based on market assessment, economic development, governance indicators, sociodemographic factors, and technological infrastructure. Provides a deep-dive analysis of 10 high-potential countries covering value growth during 2024-29, consumer demographics, and key trends. It also includes regional analysis covering the outlook for each region.
• Competitive environment and brand shares: Provides an overview of the leading companies and brands at global and regional levels. Market shares of brands and private labels in each region are also detailed.
• Distribution overview: Provides an analysis of the leading distribution channels in the global meat substitutes sector in 2024. It covers modern retail, traditional retail, cash & carries & warehouse clubs, specialist retail, direct sellers, and other distribution channels.
• Packaging analysis*: The report provides percentage share (in 2024) and growth analysis (during 2024-29) for various pack materials, pack types, closures, and primary outer types based on volume sales of meat substitutes.
• Select industry metrics: The section provides topline statistics and analysis for different alternate datasets, such as patent filings, job analytics, and deals in the food industry in 2024.

Reasons to Buy

• Manufacturers and retailers seek latest information on how the market is evolving to formulate their sales and marketing strategies. There is also demand for authentic market data with a high level of detail. This report has been created to provide its readers with up-to-date information and analysis to uncover emerging opportunities of growth within the sector in the region
• The report provides a detailed analysis of the countries in the region, covering the key challenges, competitive landscape and demographic analysis, that can help companies gain insight into the country specific nuances
• The analysts have also placed a significant emphasis on the key trends that drive consumer choice and the future opportunities that can be explored in the region, than can help companies in revenue expansion
• To gain competitive intelligence about leading brands in the sector in the region with information about their market share and growth rates