Opinion and analysis

Plant-based foods increasingly popular

While the demand for poultry increases, in South Africa and worldwide, so is the demand for plant-based food and cultured meat.

The Sunday Times reported that plant-based alternatives that simulate meaty products are on the rise in South Africa.

“Retailers are reporting higher sales, producers are point to an explosion over the past five years and research has detailed how South Africans aren’t as dedicated to a hunk of real meat as one might think.”

The newspaper quoted a spokesperson for Pick n Pay, one of the country’s leading retailers, saying the company had doubled the number of plant-based products it stocks over the past two years. Sales continued to grow year on year. The same development is being seen worldwide.

“Research by Bloomberg Intelligence found that the global plant-based market will grow from $30bn (R548.83bn) in 2021 to $160bn (R2.93 trillion) by 2030, highlighting how this trend has gone mainstream,” the report said.

Fry’s, one of the oldest plant-based product companies in South Africa, said it has seen “massive growth since launching in 1991, with demand accelerating over the past four to five years.

Fry’s is part of the Livekindly stable that has partnered with RCL Foods, South Africa’s second-largest poultry producer and owner of Rainbow Chicken. RCL has said it wants to increase its focus on plant-based foods, and Livekindly is a US group that makes imitation meat brands.

A legal battle between alternative meat producers and the South African government comes to a head later this year. Last August, the Department of Agriculture, prompted by objections from meat producers, banned the use of meat imitation labels such as “sausage” and “meatball”. A legal challenge to the immediate change resulted in an interdict that is valid until May.