Made with simple, plant-based ingredients, it whitens, sweetens, and flavors coffee with zero dairy and only 3g of sugar per serving.

Prepared Foods discusses plant protein ingredients and formulation strategies with Charlie Baggs, president, founder and executive chef at Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations, Chicago.

The beauty of Innova’s annual Top 10 Trends of the food and beverage industry is that the trends apply across all market categories—including dairy products and dairy alternatives. Dairy and dairy alternatives overlap in many ways, differ in others, and our Top 10 Trends can be interpreted across both.

Globally, food and drink launches containing microalgae experienced average annual growth of more than 40% during a recent three-year period. Trends in plant-based proteins from the sea—as well as new technologies to produce seafood without the sea—also overlap with our second 2024 trend, “Nurturing Nature.” Indeed, both seafood companies and technology innovators can be ocean guardians.

Today, it’s hard to keep up with the dramatic evolution of protein ingredients that fall under the umbrella of plant-based. This includes the growing numbers of ingredients that are not even based on plants. Here’s a brief look at current trends that help define movement in plant-based ingredients, followed by predictions for the future of alternative proteins.

The company is introducing TiNDLE Stuffed Chicken products this year – with initial offerings such as Chicken Parmigiana and Garlic & Herb – marking the next step in bringing bold flavors to home chefs. 

PalmAgility® 600 series compound coating fats (pictured) are a new line of patent-pending, specialty fats designed for a variety of applications including fillings, drizzling, enrobing and bottoming for bakery, snacks and confectionery products. 

Crafted with non-GMO, vegan ingredients, each GOOD PLANeT Olive Oil Cheese Slice has 0g of saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, and less than half the calories compared to dairy cheese. Most vegan cheeses are made with coconut oil, and therefore contain high amounts of saturated fat. 

The launch of Oscar Mayer NotHotDogs and NotSausages is the latest example of The Kraft Heinz Not Company’s ambition to bring plant-based innovations to market faster. Further, the launch marks another exciting step in the joint venture’s continued expansion of its plant-based portfolio.

Truly Grass Fed, a premium brand of sustainably-produced dairy products from the green fields of Ireland, expanded into a new category with the introduction of Truly Gluten Free Premium Irish Oat Milk.