{"id":377,"date":"2021-06-16T14:44:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/?p=377"},"modified":"2022-09-15T22:03:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T20:03:13","slug":"europe-goes-plantbased","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/news\/b2b-blog\/europe-goes-plantbased\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe goes plant-based: Insights and how-to\u2019s for small medium brands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The European plant-based food sector has experienced explosive growth during the last two years. According to consumer reports, the market grew from 2.4 billion EUR in 2018 to 3.6 billion EUR in 2020. The pandemic furthermore accelerated this growth because customers are increasingly conscious of their health \u2014 this and more were topics of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.eu\/events\/europe-goes-plant-based\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">V-Label\u2019s latest discussion<\/a>\u00a0with panelists all over Europe. Between research scientists to retailers to CEO\u2019s, this is what we\u2019ve gathered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest markets show the biggest growth\u2026&nbsp;but we made it our mission to showcase how cutting-edge innovators come from all corners of the continent. Let\u2019s crunch some numbers first:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The biggest markets in Europe were the United Kingdom and Germany. The UK market was worth 502 million euros, up 36 percent from 2019, and the German market was worth 357 million, up 76 percent from 2019.<\/li><li>The most popular meat-substitute\u00a0products in the UK were\u00a0plant-based sausages\u00a0and\u00a0frozen burger patties and cold cuts, while the most popular products in Germany were plant-based refrigerated meats and cold cuts and\u00a0meat spreads. One promising innovation in this field is whole cuts, plant-based steaks with convincing taste and texture.<\/li><li>Meanwhile, the market for plant-based milk was worth 1.6 billion EUR in 2020.\u00a0Germany\u00a0was the highest earner with 396 million EUR,\u00a0up 42 % from 2019,\u00a0and Spain was the second highest with 318 million, up 13 % from 2019.\u00a0Oat milk was the most popular dairy substitute, followed by almond and soy milk.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">How this Spanish feta cheese startup competes with big brands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One innovator with plant-based cheese is the\u00a0Barcelona-based startup Ilowu. Under the brand\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yesbutfoods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yes.But<\/a>, the company sells six varieties of refrigerated plant-based cheese. Their\u00a0best-selling product is feta cheese, because there are many players in plant-based mozzarella and cheddar but fewer with feta and\u00a0Parmesan.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yesbutfoods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1567\" height=\"1045\" src=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut.jpeg 1567w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/yesbut-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1567px) 100vw, 1567px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>How does this small company compete with major players like Nestle and Unilever, who buy brands and whole industries? <em>&#8220;Their strategy is to have few clients and many markets. Instead of spending time dealing with details, such as setting prices and scheduling deliveries at many different retailers, Yes But focuses on three key relationships. A big distributor puts their product in independent stores. An online store increases internet presence. One big retailer reaches a large number of customers,&#8221;<\/em> the panel concludes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal is for customers to see the products in as many places as possible. To achieve this goal and be successful, business owners have to choose the right partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The size, weight, and price of the product are also essential to consider.\u00a0If the weight is too much or the price is too high, the customer might choose a different product. Keeping prices low might jeopardize\u00a0profit margins, but it is the risk if affordability leads to more sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same startup also offers plant-based sauces in the UK, refrigerated mayonnaise in Spain, frozen foods in Finland, and will soon offer ready-made meals in the Netherlands. Their other products include broccoli wings and soy protein nuggets. During the Covid-19 pandemic,\u00a0Ilowu launched 24 different products under two brands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">How to get your products to appear in stores? \u201cRetailers are always looking for new products,\u201d panelists agree<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Individual brands are only a small part of the retail universe. Retailers have to respond to suppliers, consumer trends, online competition, and more. Their plant-based strategies interact along several dimensions within their own business area as well as outsiders\u2019 activities. The more advanced the market, the more factors the retailers must take into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Retailers are always looking for new products.\u00a0For a business to put its product on store shelves, the business owners have to\u00a0decide what kind of product they want to sell, which customers they want to reach, and which retail chain they want to contact. Adding new products in retail is called category management, and there are four steps in the process.\u00a0<em>\u201cMake up your mind before you reach out to a retailer\u2014What\u2019s the problem of the retailer, and how can I help them with my product?\u2014so that you have a better position to enter the shelves,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Floor Buitelaar Consultant and Founding Partner at Bright Green Partners suggests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-heading\">4 tips how to get your products on shelves:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">1.<\/span><\/strong> CONTACT<br \/><br \/>Contact the category manager by phone or email. Don\u2019t expect a reply because they often receive around twenty offers per day. Be concrete\u2014list the details of the product, ingredients, prices, and estimated profit margins. If the product is listed at another retailer, those results can be used. Focus on retail language. Many startups have good ideas but no sales experience, so it is essential to find an advisor with experience.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">2.<\/span><\/strong> NEGOTIATION<br \/><br \/>Meet with the category manager and discuss the amount of shelf space your product will use, the price, and the promotion budget. Also define your brand or private label positioning. Competition is fierce, shelf space is limited, and private labels are becoming increasingly popular.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">3.<\/span><\/strong> TRIAL PERIOD<br \/><br \/>After the retailer defines your starting date, you have six to eight weeks to prove the rotation of your product on the shelf. Send people \u201con the ground\u201d to check the store and ensure that the product is positioned well. Watch how competitors\u2019 products are positioned. During this time, it is most important to do as much promotion as possible. You can use signs, posters, tastings in the store, and social media promotion.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">4.<\/span><\/strong> MAINTAINING<br \/><br \/>The main focus is not entering shelves but maintaining your spot on the shelves. This is especially crucial during the first eight weeks. Retailers have regular shelf space \u201cmutations\u201d every six months and larger ones around every three years.<br \/><br \/>Many category managers want to replace animal-based products with plant-based alternatives. Ask yourself: what problem is this retailer facing, and how can I help?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">A retail success story: ice pops from London kitchen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Cecilia Thomas started by selling all-natural fruit-based ice pops based on cocktails:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/poptailsbylapp.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Poptails by LAPP<\/a>. She branched out into non-alcoholic ice pops and plant-based ice cream and sorbet. What started in a London kitchen is now sold in the UK, France, and Belgium.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She attributes the success of her product to a combination of factors.\u00a0Colorful packaging stands out and is immediately recognizable. A\u00a0short list of ingredients\u00a0assures customers that the product is health conscious. Promoting the product at events raises brand awareness, including at music festivals and vegan festivals like Veggie World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, one crucial step gave access to retailers and distributors. That step was getting the product certified as vegan.<a href=\"https:\/\/poptailsbylapp.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/119836903-2645107562394846-8289102885354613623-n.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/119836903-2645107562394846-8289102885354613623-n.jpeg 1440w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/119836903-2645107562394846-8289102885354613623-n-300x208.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/119836903-2645107562394846-8289102885354613623-n-1024x711.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/119836903-2645107562394846-8289102885354613623-n-768x533.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">How can certification enhance your chances on the market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A V-Label certification helps companies promote transparency and clarity with their product. For consumers, it is an easy and effective yellow label. If you see it in a shop, you know that the product is vegan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/for-business\/resources\/case-study-vegan-food-labels\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1877\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Recent survey results<\/a>\u00a0found that\u00a092 % of customers prefer an official label of vegan certification, and 45 % would only buy products with an official label. V-Label is the leading and best-known food label in Europe. Of customers surveyed, 95 % had heard of it. The independent auditing process associates the label with quality. Customers are willing to pay more for products with V-Label certification.\u00a0<em>\u201cWe want companies to promote transparency, to promote clarity with their products. For the consumers, we hope to give an easy and effective way of knowing, when you are in the shop, if a product is vegan and vegetarian,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Katharina Kretschmer, Head of V-Label Germany confirms.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>V-Label checks every single step of the production process to make sure that a product is vegan.\u00a0The cost of certification depends on your company, how many products you want to certify, what kinds of products, which country you\u2019re based in, which countries you want to sell it in. V-Label will perform regular audits, check the production site. Companies pay for the audits, for the initial product check, and the yearly license fee to display the V-Label certification on their product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the future, V-Label certification plans to expand to certify non-food products such as cosmetics and even restaurants. As vegan products become even more important in the twenty-first century, it is essential to provide clear communication with customers and highest quality standards.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.eu\/case-study-vegan-food-labels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/for-business\/resources\/case-study-vegan-food-labels\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\" src=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/s2-2048x1152-1-1536x864.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European plant-based food sector has experienced explosive growth during the last two years. According to consumer reports, the market grew from 2.4 billion EUR in 2018 to 3.6 billion EUR in 2020. The pandemic furthermore accelerated this growth because customers are increasingly conscious of their health \u2014 this and more were topics of V-Label\u2019s latest discussion with panelists all over Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b2b-blog","category-news"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1.jpeg",2000,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-500x150.jpeg",500,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-300x90.jpeg",300,90,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-768x230.jpeg",768,230,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-1024x307.jpeg",1024,307,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-1536x461.jpeg",1536,461,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1.jpeg",2000,600,false],"preview":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-904x600.jpeg",904,600,true],"header":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1-2000x720.jpeg",2000,720,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1.jpeg",300,90,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1.jpeg",400,120,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/food-webinar-background-photo-2000x600-1.jpeg",600,180,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Can Aslan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The European plant-based food sector has experienced explosive growth during the last two years. According to consumer reports, the market grew from 2.4 billion EUR in 2018 to 3.6 billion EUR in 2020. The pandemic furthermore accelerated this growth because customers are increasingly conscious of their health \u2014 this and more were topics of V-Label\u2019s&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2226,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions\/2226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.v-label.com\/be_fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}