With covid drastically changing the American lifestyle consumers have experienced empty supermarkets, closed restaurants and stockpiling warnings. The pandemic is putting more pressure on the supply and production food chain than ever before – so what does that mean for the plant and meat industry?

In their 2018 “Year in Food” report Grubhub saw plant-based food as a trend that was rising starkly in popularity. Investors put in more than $13 billion into U.S. plant-based meat companies during 2017 and 2018, as consumers looked for more sustainable and healthy diets.

According to a January survey by Gallup 41% of Americans have tried a plant-based meat product, with more than half of those agreeing that they’re very or somewhat likely to continue eating plant-based meat products as part of their diets. Now the supermarket shelves are emptying, will this mean people who weren´t wiling to try them before now don´t have much of a choice?

Many people turn to food to deal with stress – and with people stuck at home – could we see a rise in the demand of snacks and comfort food? Snacking giant Mondelez has. 

It might all come down to the small fact of money. In times of crisis many people will be cutting the more expensive products from their shopping lists – like red meat. So if industry specialists are right and plant-based meats will soon be cheaper than animal-based meats, could we see shoppers experimenting more with vegan options?

 Via @fooddive