North America Plant-based Protein Market (2025-2032)

Proteins are used in the food industry for both nutritional and functional reasons. Human uptake of proteins can be accomplished by consuming plant-based proteins. In recent years, a growing trend towards health and fitness has arisen due to increasing health awareness. This growing health awareness increases demand for food products that support better health, especially low-calorie, nutritious, and weight-control products. There is an increasing demand for functional food primarily due to the increasing prevalence of diseases, health awareness, nutritional requirements, and willingness to experiment with new products. As a result, the number of foodstuffs containing nutritional ingredients has grown distinctly in recent years. These consumer trends in North America are driving the growth of the functional food ingredients market, such as plant-based protein.

Protein is a key ingredient to enhance nutritional content in food and improve functionality. A protein's most important functional properties are its water solubility, water & fat binding capacity, gel-forming & rheological behaviors, and emulsifying & foaming ability. Also, plant-based protein is used in food applications to form gels, absorb juices during cooking, and for their whipping and binding properties. They form a key ingredient in creating food with consumer-winning claims like protein-rich and natural ingredients with an appealing sensory aspect of food, shelf life, and stability in many food applications.

In addition, due to health concerns, ethics, and sustainability, diets are changing among North American consumers. Around 10% of Americans over the age of 18 are vegetarian, 3% are vegan, and almost 40% are shifting toward eating more plant-based foods, according to Vegetarian Resource Group (2022). In the U.S. plant-based food market, some of the key players are focusing on researching and introducing next-generation protein-rich products, as consumers’ concern is shifting from regular to plant-based food. For instance, leading meat processors Tyson, Smithfield, Perdue, and Hormel have rolled out meat alternatives with plant-based burgers, meatballs, and chicken nuggets. Moreover, as of 2020, flexitarians in the U.S. are reducing their animal product consumption, which comprises about one-third of the U.S. population (Source: Danone North America).

Thus, increasing applications in a range of food products owing to its functional & nutritional properties, there is an increasing demand for plant-based protein from the food and beverages industry in North America.