Lab Academy SANA Food: spotlight on the plant-based world

September 2024

Sold out for the second meeting of the new SANA Food initiative, dedicated to an in-depth look at data, trends and regulations related to plant-based products.

The second meeting of Lab Academy SANA Food - inaugurated in July 2024 - was highly acclaimed by the public, demonstrating the growing interest in plant-based food. This trend is confirmed by the data: the global market value of the sector has risen from 29.4 billion dollars in 2020 to 52.5 in 2023, with projections of an increase to 161.9 billion (+550%) by 2030.

The European market for plant-based meals is also moving in the same direction: EUR 181 million in 2022, a growth of 20% over the previous year.

In general, it is the amount of vegan or vegetarian people that is beginning to be significant. In Italy, for example, 7.2% of the population declares itself vegetarian and 2.3% vegan (compared to 6.5% and 0.6% 10 years ago): numbers that go hand in hand with the importance placed on the healthiness, freshness and taste of vegetable products.

While home remains the preferred place to consume plant-based products (so 49% of respondents), restaurants (around 40%), take-aways (17-18%) and canteens (10%) are also popular for this type of food.

Remaining within the Italian context, between 2021 and 2023, the total sales value of the seven most significant categories of plant-based foods (meat, milk and beverages, cheese, yoghurt, cream, ice cream and desserts) increased by 16.1% reaching EUR 641 million. Among the most significant growth was vegetable meat (+12.8%) and vegetable cheese (+77%).

These and other data were discussed in depth at the Lab Academy SANA Food meeting on Tuesday 24 September. Moderated by Sebastiano Porretta, President of AITA - the Italian Association of Food Technology, the initiative saw the participation of Claudia Castello, Exhibition Manager at SANA, Daniela Martini, Professor at the Department of Food, Nutrition and Environmental Sciences at the University of Milan, and lawyer Afro Ambanelli, who sought to understand the nutritional and lifestyle motivations linked to ‘plant-based’ food products, as well as examining the food law governing the sector and its shortcomings.

The Lab Academy SANA Food - the project by BolognaFiere that, with the patronage of AITA, is aimed at operators in the food industry - will continue in the coming months with other training and refresher courses.