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Home , Margarine, Plant milk

SPREADS

Photo: Wildbrine

Plant-based ’s share of the spreads market is rising as consumers increasingly focus on health and the environment. What is behind the growth and what on the ascent ingredients are used to provide a butter flavour without using Butter’s reputation among consumers has reaching a value of US$198M. been something of a roller coaster. Once Chris Glab, co-founder of California- any ingredients? reviled as a source of bad , new based fermented foods producer Ile Kauppila scientific reviews have brought on a semi- Wildbrine and its WildCREAMERY renaissance for dairy butter in the last plant-based creamery, tells & decade. Despite this, butter alternatives International that he expects the growth to continue to grow in popularity. continue. According to him, we are seeing , a butter-like product a “sustained, long-term trend to healthy, produced from plant oils, was originally plant-based food alternatives.” marketed as a healthier alternative to That category also includes plant butter. However, the presence of trans butters. Like the its oils are sourced fats and high saturated content – from, the plant butter market is rooted in particularly in earlier margarine products good soil and is growing stronger. – tarnished margarine’s name as well. Although product development has found Plant butter or margarine? ways to mitigate these issues, the word Some people – many consumers included “margarine” still carries the baggage of its – have questioned whether there is any past. meaningful difference between products Now, a new challenger is rising in the labelled as ‘margarine’ and ‘plant butter’. field of dairy butter alternatives. Plant- Indeed, the two spreads appear similar at based butters – or plant butters – are a glance. Both are dairy butter alternatives popping up in dairy aisles in increasing based on a variety of plant oils and fats. numbers, and their market share is However, a deeper look at the ingredients growing. Good Food Institute data shows reveals subtle but significant differences. plant butter sales in the USA grew 15% “For me, the main difference is that in only two years between 2017-2019, the new plant butters use real, whole, u www.ofimagazine.com OFI – MAY 2021 27 SPREADS

developed their own methods to tackle this issue. Wildbrine, for example, has based its method on the company’s previous experience in producing fermented food, such as sauerkraut. “We developed a proprietary plant- based culture to flavour our dairy- alternative products. We utilise the very same lactobacillus fermentation to deliver that distinctive cultured dairy-like taste, but produced from a fermentation of whole plant ingredients,” says Glab. Shifting consumer preferences Plant butters, and other plant-based dairy and meat alternatives, were considered exclusively vegan products for a long time. As such, the market was limited in scope, as most omnivores stuck to either butter or old-fashioned margarine. However, according to both Glab and several market research companies, this landscape is changing fast.

Photo: Adobe Adobe Photo: Stock One of the driving causes behind the Photo: Wildbrine The COVID pandemic has led to an increase in home cooking and demand for grocery-purchased expansion of the plant butter market is foods, with consumers paying more attention to the health and environmental impact of food consumers’ increasing focus on health. As mentioned, butter and margarine u minimally processed ingredients,” explains -based butters can also be placed into still carry some of their old stigma, and Glab. “Many , and particularly this category. consumers see plant butters as a healthier the original margarines that pioneered the In -based products, Expert replacement. Medical research supports category, used cheaper ingredients that Market Research data shows that , this view somewhat; a report by health were refined and highly processed, along canola, palm and avocado oils are popular awareness group Switch4Good, for with other artificial functional ingredients ingredients. Finally, in the plant example, shows that a tablespoon of to assist in cost reduction or extended category, soya milk leads the way with butter contributes roughly 30% of the shelf life.” some 40% market share, says Future daily recommended intake Glab says that among the ingredients in Market Insights (FMI). Other popular plant for a 2,000 calorie diet. some margarines are hydrogenated fats, include , , corn, , and “While some people are switching to benzoate, sorbate and . plant-based butters for health reasons, the mono- and . Some of them, The choice of the main ingredient for trend is driven by more than just health. say both Glab and health information plant butter production, according to Glab, It has taken on expanded participation service Healthline, even include dairy- comes down to three main considerations. to include flexitarians who may eat based ingredients – the product that A functional raw material must: some -derived foods,” Glab notes. margarine is supposed to replace. They As such, plant butters are in general can also contain soyabean oil or soya 1. Be minimally processed and towards no longer perceived as strictly vegan , which is a relatively common the top of the list of healthiest oils and products. allergen. fats. Glab also believes that no food product The ghost of trans fats also still hangs 2. Have high performance that mimics the has escaped the effects of the ongoing over even modern margarines. The functional properties of butter. COVID-19 pandemic, and plant butter is processes used to produce 3. Have a neutral taste that does not no exception. However, in this case, the some margarines can create trans fats, overpower the intended buttery flavour pandemic may have been a boon. Due which the American Heart Association has of the product. to government lockdowns in many parts linked to heart disease and stroke. of the world, people have increasingly “Many of the newer plant-based butters Glab stresses the importance of the resorted to home cooking. Together with use oils that are considered better for you; main ingredient’s flavour profile. He says this shift, they have begun paying more oils that are not hydrogenated,” says Glab. that formulating new plant butters is attention to what goes into their food. technically “fairly straightforward,” but the “The pandemic has given consumers Considering the ingredients challenge arises with the product’s taste. more time to research foods and the When it comes to picking the ingredients, “The real challenge is getting the various impacts of the food they purchase plant butter producers have a plethora of flavour right,” explains Glab. “That dairy and consume – on health, on the options available. The plant butter market taste comes from lactobacillus-based environment, on other living inhabitants is divided into several segments based fermentation of milk. How do you get that of the planet. The pandemic has generally on the main ingredient. In nut butters, fermented dairy taste without using any increased the demand on all grocery- and are the leading raw dairy?” purchased foods. As COVID-19 has materials, notes Fior Markets. Each plant butter producer has accelerated many broad trends, it has

28 OFI – MAY 2021 www.ofimagazine.com SPREADS definitely also accelerated the sustained, long-term trend to healthy, plant-based food alternatives,” says Glab. Sweet spreads market expected to grow Concerns over and the Plant butters aren’t the only spreads that environment have further fuelled interest are undergoing interesting developments. in plant butters. While some plant butter The sweet spreads market – including raw materials, like soya, are produced products such as butter, jams, and through industrial agriculture methods, chocolate spreads – is seeing a boost in Glab notes that, in general, the use of certain segments. Other products in this non-processed plant oils minimises plant category, however, are not necessarily butters’ environmental impact. Wildbrine doing so well. and other plant butter producers also In general, the sweet spreads market is strive to use every part of the plant, growing, although not quite at the pace either in food production or to fuel their of plant butters. Market analysts agree factories. the sector will see a CAGR of somewhere between 3-4% over the next five years. A fast-growing market Future Market Insights (FMI) projects Chocolate spreads are the leading product Plant butters do appear to have a North America to dominate the market, in the sweet spreads market, which is seeing promising future ahead. Fior Market with Asia Pacific to follow. Europe, Latin growth Photo: Pixabay Research states that in 2018, the global America, Africa, and the Middle East plant butter market stood at US$1.23bn will see moderate growth up to 2030. The biggest challenge the market faces is raw and was poised to reach US$1.77bn by material supply. Cocoa, and are all currently fetching high prices, notes 2026. However, this projection came IMARC Group. before the pandemic hit, and reality has But while plant butters are driven by health concerns, more indulgent options are proven it to be too cautious. According thriving in sweet spreads. Transparency Market Research puts chocolate spreads as to FMI, the market had already reached a the leading category, while The Grocer notes that jams and are also total value of US$2.4bn in 2020. By 2030, seeing increased value sales. Products that fall in the middle of the healthy-indulgent it could be worth as much as US$5.1bn. axis are struggling; sales of yeast spreads, such as Marmite and honey have fallen. What every market research Intense product development and experimentation is a characteristic of the sweet organisation does agree on is that steady spreads sector. Producers are launching new spreads to keep consumers interested, growth will continue. Their expectations and the trick seems to be working. Increasing consumption of sweet spreads among vary, but generally they predict the global older age groups is boosting the market, says 360 Market Updates. plant butter market to see an annual Another defining trait of the market is its high fragmentation. Some of the big CAGR of just short of 5%. Based on data players include Conagra Brands, Ferrero Group, JM Smucker Co, Kraft Heinz and from Market Research Future, this growth , but none of them dominates. Competition is fierce, which is further fuelling will rival or even surpass that of dairy the drive towards new products. butter, which is projected to see a CAGR For producers, the sweet spreads segment is currently challenging. Consumers, of 4.52%. though, can look forward to new, tasty products to spread on their morning . This growth will be strongest in North America, driven partially by increasing numbers of people identifying as vegan. Miyoko’s Creamery, a California-based not reasonably “revolutionise” its dairy Between 2014-2017, the number of plant butter producer, received positive equivalent. vegan consumers in the USA grew from news at a US district court when Judge In the future, however, plant and dairy 1% of the population to 6%. Behind North Richard Seeborg ruled against a complaint butters might move closer together, America, Europe is the second largest by the California Department of Food and according to Glab. He sees the products market base, followed by Asia Pacific. Key Agriculture, which claimed that Miyoko’s as moving towards collaboration, if all market players include Conagra Brands was misleading consumers by labelling its players in the market are willing to do so. Inc, ForA: Butter, I Can’t Believe It’s products as ‘vegan butter’. That may very well be, considering facts Not Butter, Miyoko’s, Naturli Foods AS, According to the court, it was not such as the 30% butter deficit in France WayFare Foods, and Wildbrine. misleading for Miyoko’s to call its product and the resulting tripling of butter prices The market is characterised by a high ‘butter’ if the word was preceded by a to €7,000/tonne, as highlighted by FMI. number of both mergers and acquisitions qualifier such as ‘vegan’ or ‘plant-based’. “The next generation of plant-based and new product launches, alongside The court also ruled that it was butters will bring together a collaboration players exiting the segment – for example, acceptable to call the butters ‘lactose-free’ between traditional dairy, food science, Califia Farms told Oils & Fats International and ‘cruelty-free’. and – maybe the most important element that it was discontinuing its plant butter However, Seeborg did not allow – real-food culinary arts, supported by products. Miyoko’s to call its butters ‘hormone-free’ food science,” Glab says. due to the fact that plants contain their The dairy and plant butter segments Is it ‘butter’? own hormones and, as such, the claim was could eventually merge into one simple Another boost for plant butter came in misleading. ‘butter’ market. But for the time being, August 2020 in the USA. That was when Additionally, the slogan ‘revolutionising plant butter is expected to take up an producers finally received some clarity on dairy with plants’ was not approved as increasing amount of space in the dairy a question that has haunted the market Seeborg ruled that there was no “direct aisle. ● for a long time: can plant butters be called interaction” between dairy and plant Ile Kauppila is a former assistant editor of ‘butter’? butter, and therefore plant butter could Oils & Fats International www.ofimagazine.com OFI – MAY 2021 29