Unilever sets goal for €1bn annual sales of plant-based items

The move which also aims to gain ground in the race for climate-conscious consumers’ attention, exceeds the €200m of sales the consumer goods group expects from plant-based substitutes in 2020.

Called “Future Foods”, the initiative aims to help consumers eat more healthily and reduce the supply chain’s environmental impact, will have the Vegetarian Butcher brand at the center of the project.

Unilever said its Vegetarian Butcher brand acquired two years ago was growing “explosively”. It now focuses on products such as lactose-free ice cream and mayonnaise as well as soybean and algae-based meat substitutes.

Hanneke Faber, president of Unilever’s food division, which generated sales of €19.3bn in 2019, said: “It’s the right thing for the world to figure out how we can eat more plant-based, versus eating as much animal protein as we do today. That way we may not lose the planet.”

Faber said: “I think we are at the very beginning, for meat and dairy substitutes, of their market growth — they are still tiny compared to the overall meat and dairy markets. In the most developed countries it’s 5% of meat or dairy — some predictions say it could go to 50%.”

She added: “It’s a very, very crowded market, but we’re up for it.”

Unilever is also unveiling plans to halve food waste across its operations by 2025.