As health-and-wellness trends pervade the food and beverage markets, plant-based proteins are growing in prominence and becoming a game- changing trend. The Netherlands-based Innova Market Insights states that plant-protein claims were up 58 percent on new product launches globally from 2013-2017, while plant-based claims jumped 62 percent during the same timeframe. For 2018, Chicago-based Euromonitor International forecasts that the overall global market for dairy alternative drinks will reach $16.3 billion.
In 2017, ready-to-drink (RTD) protein drinks saw U.S. wholesale dollar sales of $624.3 million, an increase of 2 percent compared with 2016, according to New York-based Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC). U.S. sales of protein supplements and meal replacements totaled $3.5 billion for the 52 weeks ending Sept. 9, an increase of 4.5 percent, according to data from Chicago-based SPINS.