Plant-based may not look as disruptive as it did a few years ago. But that doesn’t mean it has stopped changing the industry.
The shift now feels less loud and more embedded. Less about novelty or hype, or whether plant-based has “made it”. More about how it is quietly shaping the way food is positioned, formulated and talked about.
That was the thread running through a panel at IFE, International Food & Drink Event on how plant-based foods are still transforming the industry.
The category is no longer only influencing obvious things like new launches or supermarket fixtures. It’s also shaping how manufacturers think about functionality, how caterers design value menus, how we talk about affordability and accessibility, and how health is framed in everyday eating.
One of the sharper points was around protein and fibre.
Protein still dominates so much food and drink messaging. But the panel questioned whether that’s where the bigger nutritional issue really sits. As Hannah Carter, OGGS®, put it, the UK is not a protein‑deficient nation; our bigger gap is fibre, with consequences for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and gut health.
Seen through that lens, the role of plants shifts. It becomes less about what plant-based is replacing, and more about what it is bringing: whole ingredients, fibre, and the chance to rebalance diets in a way that supports both health and environmental goals. Add the push for cleaner labels and simpler formulations, and plant-based starts to look less like a standalone trend and more like a useful indicator of where food is heading.
There was also an undercurrent about language and framing. Panellists talked about the move away from plant-based being seen as something “other” towards something more everyday and inclusive. That sense of normalisation came through in Carla Casadei’s point that you can now walk into a café and “easily get” a plant-based cappuccino, where that simply wasn’t an option a few years ago.
Linked to this was a call to move away from a combative “meat versus plant” narrative and towards more of an “as well as” mindset. Not a fight, but “us working together for our own health and planet.”
Normalised, though, doesn’t mean automatic. Products still need to earn their place. They must taste good, feel familiar enough to fit into how people already eat - whether that’s a cheesy pizza, a slice of cake or an everyday value meal - and deliver on price and practicality, not just principle.
That may be where the next phase of plant-based becomes most interesting. Less about proving that it belongs, and more about making it feel like an easy, obvious choice: not an argument against meat, but another option that fits how people actually live.
Plant-based may not be shouting as loudly as it once did. But it’s still changing the industry, in ways that are increasingly everyday, embedded and commercially relevant.
Thanks too to Mex Ibrahim, Claire Ogley and Sarah Bentley for the wide-ranging discussion.
