September 29, 2020

 

Nestle: COVID-19 increased demand for plant-based food alternatives

 

Nestle said plant-based foods have surged in demand following the COVID-19 pandemic after meat supplies were affected and consumers becoming more health conscious, Reuters reported.

 

The company has major investments in plant-based products as it looks to innovate and meet trendy local food brands' challenges.

 

Nestle will soon launch its own plant-based vegan burger and plant-based Nesquik milk drink.

 

Mark Schneider, Nestle chief executive said demand for plant-based alternatives has gone up, with meat supply chain issues in the United States one of the major reasons.

 

Close to 20 meat plants were temporarily closed in the US earlier this year after workers were discovered to have COVID-19.

 

Schneider also said consumers have become health conscious, with an interest in personal health and weight-loss especially as COVID-19 affects those with pre-existing health problems.

 

Schneider was speaking at the launch of Nestle's new R&D Accelerator at the company's dairy research facility in Konolfingen near Bern.

 

The Accelerator will connect Nestle scientists with startups and students interesting in exploring new dairy product and plant-based food alternatives.

 

Sales of Nestle's plant-based food increased 40% in the first six months of this year after hitting CHF 200 million (~US$215 million; CHF 1 = US$1.08) in 2019. It's total 2019 sales of all food products was 92.6 billion (~US$100 billion).

 

Nestle's chief executive said prices will go down for plant-based meat alternatives over time. The current high prices are because of pea and soy protein, expensive ingredients.

 

He said Nestle is working on plant-based alternatives for chocolate and ice cream.

 

Stefan Palzer, Nestle's chief technology officer said if plant-based ingredients are utilised throughout the company's extensive product range, it could offer economies of scale.

 

-      Reuters