Do's and Dont's of Plant Based Food Marketing

With consumers becoming more conscious of their health, there was a spike in new vegan companies in 2020. Even fast-food restaurants like McDonald's took notice and began offering plant-based alternatives, such as loaded fries and vegan burgers in addition to vegan pizza and pastries. By 2027, analysts estimate that the market would expand by 11.9%. Here are some recommendations for marketers who are eager to embrace the trend.

Do Highlight Source or Place Of Origin

Labels that identify the country of origin of ingredients could be more symbolic to the consumer as they are more interested in learning where their food is produced. For instance, use "Mexican black bean soup" to emphasise the dish's origins rather than "reduced fat vegetarian black bean soup." Utilising the source of a food, such as the natural environment in which the ingredients are cultivated, is another way to do this. "Meat-free breakfast" to "Farm Fresh breakfast," for instance

Do Appeal to the senses:

Focus on Flavour

Highlighting a dish's flavour automatically makes it more appealing. Strong adjectives like "delicious" and distinctive flavours like "honeyed," "smoky," "caramelised," and "tangy" paint a hugely different picture. For example a rich, buttery, roasted beet salad with zesty ginger-turmeric vinaigrette conjures up a better mind visual that a bland 100 percent organic beet salad. Develop a strategy to express flavour enhancing ingredients, or culinary techniques, or a creative combination of both

Focus on the visual aspect

Look and feel drives appeal adding descriptors referencing appearance and mouth-feel may make all the difference. Adding colour can be used in a variety of ways for example fresh green bean salad with a zesty saffron and and ginger vinaigrette can set and expectation of a fresh, flavour - packed and visually vibrant dish. Mouth feel is another method of adding interest (words like creamy, warming, crunchy, smooth and sticky to communicate mouth feel. For example “Flaky Pastry with fresh mushroom & spinach in a creamy parmesan sauce conjures up an entirely different sensation. Well known feature in the wine industry, Mouth feels descriptors can have the capability of lighting up the human ability to sense and identify food characteristics that make them desirable.

Do highlight health benefits

Increasingly, major health organisations are recommending a healthy well-balanced plant-based diet to prevent cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even Using stats highlighting these benefits can drive increased appetite for vegan products and promote healthy living. Be clear about the nutritional values including macros and calories, as this is what people are interested in as well as having a tasty meal

Restaurants and food manufacturers may consider using terminology such as creamy, warming, crunchy, smooth and sticky to communicate mouth feel.

Do talk about environmental impact

From the food and water needed to feed the animals to the transportation and other operations involved from field to fork, the production of meat and other animal products burdens the environment. A plant-based diet uses 16 times less land, 13 times less water, and generates 50% fewer CO2 emissions than the cow sector. By 2050, the UN projects that there will be 9.7 billion people on the planet, which will result in an increase in food consumption of 59 to 98 percent. Because farmers would need to grow agricultural acreage or raise productivity, which may not be quick enough to fulfil the anticipated demand for food, agricultural markets will be impacted in ways we haven't seen before. a vegetarian

Don’t stop with product – Make all aspects of packaging and retail & logistic are environmentally sound.

Let you packaging and retail choices tell a story. This is your chance to be memorable. There have also been many breakthroughs in plant-based packaging and compostable packaging. Retail is also getting a lot more green with outlets powered by renewable sources, energy saving lighting and equipment, paperless, digital billing, EV transportation etc. This also means that it’s getting easier for your brand to reduce its carbon footprint. Focusing on these topics in your marketing communication will not only please your existing customers but will also show your potential customers that purchasing your product will benefit the environment. Adopting green practices across all brand touch points will help you stay true to your purpose otherwise, you risk contradicting the entire commitment of your brand.

Don’t just target the vegetarians

Nearly 40% of EU consumers now identify as flexitarian, vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan, according to a recent pan-EU poll conducted by ProVeg International. In Germany, more than 50% of customers identify as flexitarian. Nearly half of Americans typically buy both dairy and plant-based milk during their weekly shop, which illustrates a similar trend. Conversely, less than 4% of the overall addressable market are vegans. You might open up an addressable market that is up to 11 times larger by changing your marketing focus from vegans to flexitarians!By shifting your marketing focus from vegans to flexitarians, you could unlock a total addressable market that is up to 11 times larger!

Don’t forget culture

It is vitally important to keep your brand/product identification adaptable and not overly rigid. It is simple to translate languages, but more challenging to translate cultures. Work with local specialists in each nation when you are entering a new market. They should be aware of the tastes and cultural traditions of your target market. They should also be able to analyse common packaging themes and styles and identify crucial components for a certain region. E.g. In Australia, Burger King tried out many brand names. They learned that Australians prefer the name "Hungry Jacks" for their chain restaurants. Simply repackaged to appeal to the preferences of the regional Australian market, Burger King remains the same.

Do adopt transparent media practises

In an era of transparency, ethics and sustainability, plant-based brands need to follow suit and be honest about what their dishes contain. In particular, if a product is vegan-friendly or makes a claim to be clean, encourage customers to double-check ingredients by scanning the QR code so that they can see exactly what's in the product and how it's created. The goal is to develop a culture of informed consumers. People frequently base their purchases only on pricing and are unaware of potentially dangerous components. Unfortunately, just because something is vegan doesn't automatically imply it's healthy for you.