I think there will be more people eating plant-based products. There will be not only more vegetarians and vegans, but also people who, next to animal products, will eat more and more plant-based foods. These consumers will try to increase their intake of plant-based proteins and to eat a complete plant-based meal several days a week.

 I’ve also noticed that people are more aware of the influence of sugars and highly processed products on their appetite, their energy, and their health in general. That’s why, I think fast sugars and highly processed foods in particular like for instance ready-to-eat meals that contain a lot of sugar, salt, fats will soon largely be replaced by meals with more fibers and complex carbohydrates which promote a faster metabolism and sense of satiety.

1) Plant-based diet
2) Less processed food
3) Foods that provide faster and longer the sense of satiety

When I look more into plant-based eating, which has gained popularity in recent years, I clearly see that the food industry is responding to this. In the past, you had to go to a health food store in a big city for tofu, while now you can find it in every city,  in every store and in every price category. Also regarding plant-based cheeses: a few years ago this turned out to be a major barrier to keep a plant-based diet as there was no qualitative replacement for animal cheese. Now you can find in stores plant-based cheeses that taste just as good as normal ones. In the meantime, you can find many different types of plant-based cheeses which are comparable to mozzarella, Gouda, cheddar and blue cheese.

I’m convinced that the food industry also realizes that people want to eat more plant-based products for many reasons, and that the interest in qualitative substitutes of standard products is there. That is why, I believe that many more plant-based products will come on the market in the coming years, so that people will have the possibility to choose between an animal or a plant-based alternative.

The food industry will survive if they continue to develop new plant-based products that are not only quality wise close to their standard variants in terms of taste, texture and consistency but also having more allergen-free ingredients.

Social media has a major influence on the nutritional behavior of young people and adults. Many influencers demonstrate the benefits of plant-based nutrition. In addition, plant-based food manufacturers are also on social media and promote their products. In this way, more people get to know new innovative products and they are more likely to go to the supermarket to buy them. On social media we can also get more vegan recipes than before and plenty of videos of recipes using plant-based products available.

Definitely! A very simple example of this impact : reusable shopping bags. Any consumer is now ready to use reusable bags for fruit and vegetables instead of plastic bags. This is really fantastic. More and more people are asking themselves questions about the large amount of plastic around food products and plastic used for packaging in general. Consumers will tend to go to packaging-free stores which are on the rise. I’m also convinced that the retail chains will also contribute in the field of sustainability. More and more food companies are also using sustainable, local raw materials and recyclable packaging.