Instacart has been keeping an eye on consumers’ eating habits and issued a report on the mainstream migration to plant-based products. The new “Plant Power” report found that Orlando topped the charts as one of the fastest-growing areas to purchase plant-based meat and milk products, increasing +22% and +8% respectively.
“Plant-based food has grown from a niche category into a grocery staple over the past two years,” says Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart’s Trends Expert and Senior Product Manager. “Searches for terms like ‘plant-based,’ ‘meatless,’ vegetarian,’ and especially ‘vegan’ took off on Instacart as consumers looked for healthy at-home meals during 2020 lockdowns. And this trend is turning into a long-term lifestyle — search popularity has been growing even more in 2021.”
What does this mean for digital grocery carts? Instacart consumers have reported that they plan to continue eating healthier by preparing lighter, plant-based meals, including Orlando. In fact, according to Instacart sales data, one in three customers has purchased a plant-based meat or milk product, which prompted the report to take a closer look at what’s behind the plant-based migration.
In the new “Plant Power” report, there are data-backed insights like:
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Hot brands: Impossible Foods & Laird Superfood top the lists of the top 5 fastest growing plant-based meat and milk brands on Instacart.
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Gateway products: Instacart data reveals that almond milk is the most popular first-time plant-based purchase, closely followed by 7 other “gateway” products.
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Portrait of a plant-based consumer: They’re young (except when it comes to soy milk), they live in the West (but that’s changing fast) and 43% of them eat meat, too.
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Controversial carts: Kale, sardines and cat food… or gravy, cola and iceberg lettuce? We compared the carts of people who buy only plant-based or conventional meat and the results are revealing.
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Team oat or almond? Pea milk is trending in the West and Southeast while oat milk stands out in the Northeast. Our map of the top-trending plant-based milks in each state paints the picture of the plant-based milk wars.
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The next big thing: Instacart customers adopted this prickly relative of the fig — often used as an alternative for pork — at a 50% faster clip in 2020, and growth continues into 2021.
