Plant protein sales slipping

The bloom is off the plant protein boom.

Sales for four weeks ending Oct. 3 were down by 1.8 per cent from the same period last year.

SPINS, a company that tracks retail sales, reported that vegan alt-meat sales have now fallen by 0.6 percent this year.

It explains why Michael McCain, president and chief executive officer for Maple Leaf Foods, recently said the company is reassessing its investments in plant-based proteins.

A new study published in the journal Nutrients questioned the nutritional content of the meat competitors.

“Diets based on novel plant-based substitutes were below daily requirements for calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc and Vitamin B₁₂ and exceeded the reference diet for saturated fat, sodium and sugar,” the researchers from the National University of Singapore and Wageningen University in the Netherlands wrote.