A collaboration between Food Service Director magazine and Technomic, a food industry research and strategy company, has led to Winsight’s 2018 Noncommercial Trends Forecast. The annual report uses numbers and research to predict how the noncommercial foodservice industry will change in the coming months. This year’s report, which is available on Food Service Director’s website, reveals a particularly interesting note on plant based eating.
The Winsight’s 2018 Noncommercial Trends Forecast states:
‘Plant-based dining for everyone. With sustainability and budgets in mind, operators are now putting plant-based entrees front and center instead of relegating them to a separate vegan or vegetarian station. In college dining and corporate cafes, vegetables and grains are placed at the beginning of the line and animal proteins are available at the end.’
This forecast falls after a year of thriving vegan and plant based industries. For example, a study conducted by Barclays indicated that compared to previous generations, current teens are consuming 550% more plant-based milk. Data and market research compiled by Nielsen also showed that there was an 8.1% increase in vegan product sales in the last 12 months, while meat and dairy sales dropped.
This is not a sweeping cultural shift but rather one that is taking root in small changes all over the world — changes like the suggested forecast that people will be seeing more plant based options in schools and the workplace.
It’s becoming easier than ever to transition to a plant based diet. If plant based options are given their space in the food spotlight — and not pushed off to the side — we may very well see a complete shift in the food industry.
