Alternative protein
Plant-based, fermented and cultivated meat and dairy: a $28.9B global retail market, now shrinking in the US
Alternative protein covers foods that replace animal meat, seafood, eggs and dairy. They are made from plants (pea, soy, oat, wheat), by fermentation (fungal biomass like Quorn and Meati, or precision-fermented proteins like Perfect Day's whey), or by growing animal cells (cultivated meat). They are sold to grocery shoppers, restaurants and other food makers as ingredients. Euromonitor figures in GFI's report put global retail sales of plant-based meat, seafood and dairy at $28.9 billion in 2025, up 3%. US retail sales of plant-based meat fell 10% to $1 billion that year, and funding for fermentation and cultivated companies roughly halved. Several companies closed, sold their assets or changed course.
new market · sits inside NAICS 311999, 311511, 311224 · researched 2026-11-14
global revenue (retail sales: plant-based meat, seafood, milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese) · world28.9
↗USD billions · 2025
global revenue (retail sales: plant-based meat and seafood only) · world6.6
↗USD billions · 2025
US retail dollar sales: plant-based meat and seafood (SPINS data, GFI analysis) · US1
↗USD billions · 2025
US retail dollar sales: plant-based milk (SPINS data, GFI analysis) · US2.7
↗USD billions · 2025
G
Growth
Dated and sourced; forecasts are labelled as forecasts.
- 2026-04Global retail sales of plant-based meat, seafood, milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese rose 3% from 2024 to 2025, to an estimated $28.9 billion (Euromonitor via GFI). Plant-based meat and seafood grew in some regions and fell in others. ↗
- 2026-04Since 2015, global retail sales of plant-based meat and seafood have tripled, from an estimated $2.2 billion in 2015 to $6.6 billion in 2025, inflation included (Euromonitor via GFI). ↗
- 2026-04In 2025, US retail dollar sales fell 10% for plant-based meat and seafood (units down 11%) and 2% for plant-based milk (units down 5%). Ready-to-drink beverages rose 12%, yogurt 7% and tofu/seitan/tempeh 1%. In US foodservice, plant-based milk sales through broadline distributors rose 16% to $288M, while plant-based proteins fell 7% to $291M. ↗
- 2026-04Funding raised in 2025 (GFI analysis of Net Zero Insights data): fermentation companies $357M (down from $632M in 2024), cultivated meat and seafood companies $73.9M (down from $144M), plant-based companies $450M (up from $342M). In 2020 plant-based raised $2.2B, and in 2021 it raised $3.6B. ↗
S
Segments
Each linked segment has its own page with its companies.
- Plant-based meat 5 — Burgers, sausages, chicken and deli substitutes made from pea, soy or wheat protein (Beyond, Impossible, Lightlife, Field Roast, Tofurky)
- Plant-based milk, cheese & eggs 4 — Oat, soy and almond milks, yogurt, cheese, creamers and mung-bean egg (Oatly, Silk, Daiya, Just Egg); the largest segment by sales
- Plant protein ingredients — Pea, canola, fava and other protein isolates sold to food makers (Burcon, the former Merit Functional Foods plant in Winnipeg)
- Biomass fermentation (mycoprotein) — Fungal protein grown in fermenters and sold as meat substitutes (Quorn, the former Meati)
- Precision fermentation — Microbes engineered to make specific animal proteins such as whey, sold business-to-business to food brands (Perfect Day)
- Cultivated (lab-grown) meat 5 — Meat grown from animal cells in bioreactors; sale is approved in Singapore, the US and Australia–New Zealand (Upside, GOOD Meat/Eat Just, Vow, Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms)
C
Leading companies in alternative protein
15 companies, with the scale each source states.
| Company | Where | What they do | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond Meat BYND ↗ | El Segundo, United States since 2009 | Plant-based burgers, sausages and chicken made from pea protein, sold in retail and foodservice | revenue: 275.5 USD millions (FY2025; FY2024 was $326.5M) (2025) ↗ |
| Impossible Foods ↗ | Redwood City, United States since 2011 | Plant-based meat substitutes, including the Impossible Burger | — |
| Oatly Group AB OTLY ↗ | Malmö, Sweden since 1994 | Oat-based milk and other dairy alternatives sold internationally | revenue: 862.5 USD millions (IFRS, FY2025; FY2024 was $823.7M) (2025) ↗ |
| Silk (Danone North America) ↗ | United States since 1977 | North American plant milk brand (soy, almond, oat); in 2025 Danone launched Silk Protein, a high-protein blend | — |
| Maple Leaf Foods (Greenleaf Foods: Lightlife, Field Roast, Yves) MFI.TO ↗ | Mississauga, Canada since 1991 | Canadian meat processor whose Greenleaf Foods unit makes Lightlife and Field Roast plant-based meats, mostly sold in the US; it planned to relaunch Yves Veggie Cuisine in Canada on July 1, 2026 | — |
| Daiya Foods ↗ | Burnaby, Canada since 2008 | Plant-based dairy alternatives such as cheese, sold at retail, in foodservice and as ingredients | — |
| Burcon NutraScience BU.TO ↗ | Vancouver, Canada | Plant protein technology and ingredients (pea, fava, sunflower, canola, hemp), with a Winnipeg technical centre and a protein plant in Galesburg, Illinois | — |
| Quorn (Marlow Foods) ↗ | Stokesley, United Kingdom since 1985 | Mycoprotein (fungal fermentation) meat alternatives sold worldwide | — |
| Tofurky (Turtle Island Foods) ↗ | Hood River, United States | Wheat- and tofu-based roasts, deli slices and sausages; bought by Morinaga in 2023 | — |
| Eat Just (Just Egg, GOOD Meat) ↗ | Alameda, United States since 2011 | Just Egg (mung-bean egg), Just Meat plant-based chicken (from 2025), and GOOD Meat cultivated chicken, the world's first to get regulatory approval (Singapore, 2020) | — |
| Upside Foods ↗ | Berkeley, United States since 2015 | Cultivated chicken; received USDA approval in June 2023; dropped its planned Glenview plant in February 2024 and cut staff again in March 2025 | — |
| Perfect Day ↗ | Berkeley, United States since 2014 | Animal-free whey protein made by precision fermentation in fungi, sold business-to-business to food brands | — |
| Vow ↗ | Sydney, Australia since 2019 | Cultivated quail products sold in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong | capacity: 35,000 litres total bioreactor capacity at its Sydney facility (production run at 20,000 L; GFI calls it the world's largest cultivated meat facility) (2025) ↗ |
| Mosa Meat ↗ | Maastricht, Netherlands since 2016 | Cultivated beef; raised $17.6M in 2025 | — |
| Aleph Farms ↗ | Rehovot, Israel since 2017 | Cultivated beef; raised $29M in 2025, the largest cultivated meat deal that year | employees: 150 employees (2023) ↗ |
CA
In Canada
- 2023-02Ottawa renewed Protein Industries Canada, the plant-protein Global Innovation Cluster, with $150M in February 2023. Total federal funding is $353M for 2018–2028, and the cluster's stated goal is a $25 billion Canadian industry by 2035 (a target, not a forecast). From 2018 to 2023 it co-invested $173M in 55 projects. ↗
- 2023-06Merit Functional Foods' Winnipeg pea and canola protein plant, opened in 2021 on Burcon technology, went into receivership on March 1, 2023. Burcon reported a C$25.3M net loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. ↗
- 2026Maple Leaf Foods said more than 95% of its Lightlife and Field Roast business is in the US. It announced it would relaunch the Yves Veggie Cuisine brand to Canadian consumers on July 1, 2026. ↗
- 2026Cultivated meat must receive novel food approval before it can be sold in Canada; the Wikipedia article read gives no Canadian approval. ↗
X
Closures, sales and pivots
Companies that shut down, sold their assets or changed course.
- 2025-12Believer Meats — Cultivated chicken maker (formerly Future Meat Technologies). It ceased operations in December 2025, shortly after receiving FDA and USDA approval and completing its North Carolina plant. ↗
- 2026-09Meati Foods — Mycelium meat maker. It entered an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors in May 2025, was bought by Meati Holdings and laid off most staff. In 2026 its 300,000 L of fermentation equipment sold for $75,000 to Ayana Bio and Zenfold, to be shipped to India. ↗
- 2025SCiFi Foods — Cultivated beef startup, now closed. GFI acquired its eight suspension-adapted bovine cell lines and made them publicly available through Tufts University. ↗
- 2023-02The Very Good Food Company (Victoria, BC) — Plant-based meat maker listed on the TSX-V and Nasdaq. It announced on 2023-02-02 that it would cease operations and sell its assets. ↗
- 2023-03Merit Functional Foods (Winnipeg) — Pea and canola protein plant built on Burcon's technology. It went into receivership on 2023-03-01, with PwC as receiver. ↗
- 2024-03Eat Just (pivot) — Its 30,000 sq ft cultivated meat facility planned for Singapore was reported shuttered in March 2024. It added Just Meat plant-based chicken in 2025. ↗
R
What would have to be true
- Growth depends on plant-based meat reaching taste and price parity with animal meat. GFI calls this a key driver still unmet, and US retail plant-based meat fell 10% in 2025.
- Cultivated meat must cut production costs and raise capital as funding falls: $73.9M in 2025 versus $144M in 2024. Believer Meats closed even after US approval.
- Rules could narrow the market. Florida and Alabama ban cultivated meat, several US states restrict calling it 'meat', and in March 2026 the EU agreed to ban 'meat' and 31 meat-related terms on plant-based, fermented and cultivated products.
- For precision fermentation, investors want unit economics and proof of demand after high-profile closures and restructurings in 2025; products made this way are less widely available than biomass-fermented ones.
Quick answers
- How big is the alternative protein market?
- global revenue (retail sales: plant-based meat, seafood, milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese) (world): 28.9 USD billions, 2025 — The Good Food Institute; global revenue (retail sales: plant-based meat and seafood only) (world): 6.6 USD billions, 2025 — The Good Food Institute.
- Is the alternative protein market growing?
- Global retail sales of plant-based meat, seafood, milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese rose 3% from 2024 to 2025, to an estimated $28.9 billion (Euromonitor via GFI). Plant-based meat and seafood grew in some regions and fell in others.
- Who are the leading alternative protein companies?
- Beyond Meat (United States), Impossible Foods (United States), Oatly Group AB (Sweden), Silk (Danone North America) (United States), Maple Leaf Foods (Greenleaf Foods: Lightlife, Field Roast, Yves) (Canada), Daiya Foods (Canada), Burcon NutraScience (Canada), Quorn (Marlow Foods) (United Kingdom), and 7 more in the table above.
- Which alternative protein companies are publicly traded?
- Beyond Meat (BYND), Oatly Group AB (OTLY), Maple Leaf Foods (Greenleaf Foods: Lightlife, Field Roast, Yves) (MFI.TO), Burcon NutraScience (BU.TO).
- Which Canadian companies are in alternative protein?
- Maple Leaf Foods (Greenleaf Foods: Lightlife, Field Roast, Yves), Mississauga; Daiya Foods, Burnaby; Burcon NutraScience, Vancouver.
- What is happening with alternative protein in Canada?
- Ottawa renewed Protein Industries Canada, the plant-protein Global Innovation Cluster, with $150M in February 2023. Total federal funding is $353M for 2018–2028, and the cluster's stated goal is a $25 billion Canadian industry by 2035 (a target, not a forecast). From 2018 to 2023 it co-invested $173M in 55 projects.
- What are the main segments of the alternative protein market?
- Plant-based meat and seafood, Plant-based dairy and eggs, Plant protein ingredients, Biomass fermentation (mycoprotein), Precision fermentation, Cultivated (cell-cultured) meat and seafood.
- What are the risks in the alternative protein market?
- Growth depends on plant-based meat reaching taste and price parity with animal meat. GFI calls this a key driver still unmet, and US retail plant-based meat fell 10% in 2025.
Sources (17)
- 2026 State of the Industry: Plant-based meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, and ingredients — The Good Food Institute
- 2026 State of the Industry report summary — Plant-based — The Good Food Institute
- 2026 State of the Industry: Cultivated meat, seafood, and ingredients — The Good Food Institute
- 2026 State of the Industry: Fermentation — The Good Food Institute
- US alt-meat slump continues, but plant protein gains traction in beverages – GFI (2026-04-21) — AgFunderNews
- Ayana Bio acquires Meati Foods assets (2026-09-15) — AgFunderNews
- Merit Functional Foods receivership (2023-06-23) — AgFunderNews
- Protein Industries Canada receives federal funding for another five years — Protein Industries Canada
- Beyond Meat XBRL company facts (10-K FY2025) — US SEC
- Oatly Group AB XBRL company facts (20-F FY2025) — US SEC
- Burcon NutraScience home page — Burcon NutraScience
- Cultured meat — Wikipedia
- Maple Leaf Foods — Wikipedia
- Believer Meats — Wikipedia
- The Very Good Food Company — Wikipedia
- Eat Just — Wikipedia
- Upside Foods — Wikipedia