The growing desire for vegan and plant-based offerings is driving innovation in the baking industry. For Europe’s industrial bakeries, understanding and embracing these trends is not just a matter of keeping up with evolving consumer desires, it represents an opportunity for growth and differentiation in a highly competitive market.
Those that can successfully adapt their products for the vegan market and excite consumers with new plant-based innovations are poised to become tomorrow’s market leaders.
Empowering you with our vegan expertise, we embrace the growing demand for plant-based options.
Stela Enache, Global Pastry Product Leader
A cultural shift towards veganism and plant-based eating.
The demand for vegan and plant-based options is more than just a passing fad. Bloomberg Intelligence predicts the plant-based market to hit €150 billion in the next decade.
And it’s not only strict vegans eating a plant-based diet. Euromonitor estimates that 42% of the global population is flexitarian. 41% of flexitarians are likely to choose vegan baked goods, rather than the conventional products.
Cultural trends driving plant-based purchasing.
Consumer Desire – Internal consumer studies show a growing demand for vegan and plant-based bakery items, with 28% of consumers finding vegan claims appealing when seeking out bakery products.
Health and Wellbeing – Increasingly, consumers seek bakery products that align with a balanced lifestyle. Plant-based options, often associated with high protein and better nutrition, answer this call.
Sustainability – According to Innova insights, 32% of consumers consider plant-based products more sustainable and environmental concerns can affect their buying decisions.
Innovation – The market is ready for creative solutions that cater to vegan and plant-based preferences. There’s huge potential for innovation both in new product development and in creating plant-based versions of traditional classics.
Biggest challenges in plant-based bakery
The trends are clear and the race to produce the best vegan and plant-based bakery products is on. But producing top-quality, delicious bakery goods with a new set of restraints isn’t going to happen overnight. There are a number of challenges to consider as you explore this new opportunity.
Ingredient sourcing
Sourcing quality ingredients that meet quality standards is essential. You must build new relationships and supply chains while keeping costs under control.
Legislation and compliance
Understanding and adhering to international standards and country-specific regulations is essential. While there is no specific European legislation on vegan foods as yet, the European Vegetarian Union, an umbrella organisation for a number vegan and vegetarian groups across Europe, has a standard that can be followed. Global and national guidelines for vegan and plant-based labels and claims must be handled with care.
Technology and innovation
Staying ahead means ongoing experimentation with new ingredients and production techniques. Many cheeses use animal-based enzymes to aid fermentation, for example, and progress is being made replacing these with plant-based alternatives. Developing alternatives for egg, butter, cream and milk in bakery products is another area ripe for innovation.
More on healthier lifestyle
Rely on Zeelandia to unlock a new market
Zeelandia has been an expert partner to bakery brands for over a hundred years, navigating regulatory changes and shifts in consumer preferences, and bringing new innovations and technologies to market. Zeelandia is poised to help industrial bakeries understand vegan and plant-based trends and make the most of the opportunity.
Our vegan solutions help you achieve the same great taste and texture without the use of animal products. When formulating new recipes or reworking classic flavours into appealing plant-based alternatives, you can be sure you are getting the best quality ingredients
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Product development expertise
We work with you as a trusted partner to create innovative vegan bakery products that meet the unique demands of your customers. -
Custom solutions
Whether you want to recreate a traditional product using plant-based ingredients or develop the next viral vegan hit, we are ready to work with you on custom solutions. -
Legislative compliance
Our regulatory and market experts work with you to ensure compliance and adherence to international standards for vegan claims.
Products with vegan alternatives
Embrace the future with Zeelandia
With our knowledge and experience in creating inventive total solutions, we fully support midsize to large industrial bakeries, helping you adapt to the vegan trend, seize the opportunity and be future-ready. Aligning with Zeelandia gives you the best chance of success as you become part of this exciting movement.
You are free to innovate and push boundaries, as we provide high-quality, sustainable vegan products that resonate with today’s consumer as well as our tried and tested market expertise and support.For more information on how Zeelandia can help your bakery leverage the vegan trend, contact our sales team today. Let’s keep exploring and together we can write the future of vegan and plant-based pastry.
