This report gives category managers and retail buyers the range review data they need before the next planning cycle — category sizing, consumer segmentation, competitive shelf mapping, and private label opportunity analysis.
Finding 1 — Category growth is real but driven by a narrow segment
The European plant-based food category grew 18% in 2024 to EUR 7.8bn — but 71% of volume is driven by 'flexitarians' reducing rather than eliminating meat. Fully plant-based consumers represent only 9% of category buyers.
18%
category growth, 2024 — EUR 7.8bn
Finding 2 — Trial-to-repeat conversion is the defining category challenge
44% of consumers who trialled a plant-based product in the past 12 months have not repurchased. Taste parity — not price — is cited as the primary reason in 67% of non-repeat occasions.
44%
trial buyers who did not repurchase
Finding 3 — Private label is taking share fastest in meat alternatives
Private label plant-based meat alternatives grew 34% in 2024 vs. 11% for branded equivalents. In the UK and Germany, private label now represents 38% of chilled plant-based meat volume — up from 22% in 2022.
34%
private label growth vs. 11% branded
The data answers the three questions every range review requires: which segments are growing, which SKUs are losing share, and where white space exists on the planogram.