The plant-based meat analog explosion started out as a disruptor in the prepared foods field and is currently going through some serious growing pains. But the idea of crafting meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy replacers derived from plants and other non-animal sources goes back centuries. Think: tofu. While there’s no argument that the main driver of the consumer love affair with meat-free options has been the technological boom that allowed for meat, poultry, and seafood mimics that have become increasingly close in flavor, texture, and other organoleptic aspects of their animal-based counterparts, the catalyst was also the demarcation between meat analogs and meat replacers.
Half a century ago, the focus was on such items as bean burgers, lentil burgers, vegetable patties, and the like that could sit in for meat without simulating it. But the idea of a product that directly re-created in plant form its animal version was almost anathema to the primary demographic of consumers seeking these products—vegetarians. Once the flexitarian trend took off, however, with consumers recognizing they didn’t have to wholly commit to an animal-free lifestyle and could go meatless just some of the time, the rush to satisfy this majority that actually likes the taste and texture of beef, chicken, and fish became a flood.