GFI Europe

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Market & Trends

French Market for Plant-Based Alternatives Continues to Grow Despite Inflation

A new report by GFI Europe, based on retail data from Circana, has found that the French market for plant-based alternatives is still growing despite rising food prices. Between 2021 and 2023, plant-based value sales increased by 18%, while volume sales were up 2%. This was despite food price inflation reaching a record high of 15.9% in March 2023. The growth took the total value of the French plant-based market to €648 million in 2023. In some cases, inflation narrowed the price gap between plant-based products and their animal-based counterparts. Dairy-free yogurt was 66% more expensive than regular yogurt in 2021; now, the difference has reduced to 55%. Last year, figures showed that plant-based meat was approaching price parity with conventional meat in France because …

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Alt protein research

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Science

European Alt Protein Research Saw Record Public & Philanthropic Funding in 2023

A report by GFI Europe has found that European alternative protein research received more public and philanthropic funding than ever before in 2023, increasing from €63 million in 2020 to €290 million in 2023. This figure is likely to be matched or surpassed by the end of 2024. Since 2020, the European Commission has granted €252 million to alt protein research, mainly through the Horizon Europe program. Of this, half was invested in 2023 and early 2024. By country, Denmark has funded the most research at €96 million since 2020. The UK is close behind at €90 million, partly due to the establishment of a network of research hubs by the funding body UK Research and Innovation. Previously, most funding has gone to plant-based foods, …

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Market & Trends

European Plant-Based Food Sales Rise Significantly, With Germany in the Lead

A new GFI analysis has studied plant-based food sales in six European countries — Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. Based on Circana data, the analysis shows that plant-based sales across these countries reached €5.4 billion in 2023, up 5.5% from 2022. Additionally, volume sales were up 3.5%. Total value sales increased in five of the six countries studied. While inflation appears to have affected the sector in some countries, sales were up in categories that have made progress towards price parity. In many cases, private-label products were a key growth driver. Plant-based milk and drinks currently lead the sector, comprising 41% of total plant-based sales value in 2023. Plant-based meat follows at 36.8%, while cream and cheese are seeing the most …

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Investments & Finance

European Plant-Based, Fermentation & Cell-Cultivated Companies Received €289M in First Half of 2024

European plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cell-cultivated meat and dairy companies secured €289 million in investments during the first half of 2024, according to an analysis of Net Zero Insights data by the Good Food Institute Europe. Notably, companies producing fermentation-derived products raised €164 million — thus surpassing for the first time plant-based, which secured €79 million — including raises in the field of precision fermentation totalling €49 million. In the same period, European investments in cultivated meat reached €45 million, just under half of the total EUR 106 million invested in this sector throughout 2023. Notably, a significant portion of these funds was allocated to scaling up production, with Dutch company Mosa Meat raising €40 million. The German PHW Group, a long-time investor in alternative proteins, …

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Society

University of Leeds Offers Studentship on Social & Environmental Impact of Alt Proteins

The UK’s University of Leeds is collaborating with GFI Europe to offer a studentship addressing the question, “How will alternative proteins affect people and the environment in the UK and Europe over the coming decades?” The interdisciplinary PhD project is said to be suitable for an academically excellent, impact-focused candidate. Applicants must have an excellent, relevant undergraduate degree, along with a passion for sustainable food systems and proven quantitative and communication skills. The project will seek to address three queries within the main overarching question: How are different alternative proteins likely to be accepted in different European contexts? How could European demand for different proteins change up to 2050? What would the social, economic, and environmental impacts of meeting this demand be? The aim is …

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Topics:

Alex Mayers, MD of GFI Europe

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Interviews

GFI Europe: “Cultivated Meat Was Born in Europe, and We Are Home to Some of the World’s Leading Scientists & Startups”

Alex Mayers is the newly appointed managing director of the Good Food Institute Europe, having stepped up into the role last month after three years as head of operations.   Alex’s career includes experience working with communities in different parts of the world that are highly impacted by climate change, for example, in the Philippines, addressing conflicts related to land and watershed management. Having witnessed how changing climate affects even secure communities, Alex gained an understanding of how these impacts, often overlooked in Europe, will worsen over time.   What was your personal motivation to get involved in sustainable proteins? Before joining the Good Food Institute Europe, I’d spent my career working with communities facing increasingly precarious existences due to climate change – from the southern …

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