Do popular brands have vegan products to offer?

Veganism is not just a word but a philosophy. The trend started in the West and is now spreading to Asia. If the trend continues, it will soon infiltrate the minds of people all over the world. Any change in the mindset of the consumer has a direct impact on the market. And it’s quite visible nowadays. Many brands are adding a new section of vegan products to their portfolios. Surprisingly, it is not limited to only food but has expanded to beauty products as well.

Vegan products are primarily plant-based, with no traces of animal-derived foods like milk, fish, or meat. It works on two principles: creating a new line of products or changing existing ones. The food and nonfood brands are trying out both. Let us find out which food brands are experimenting with the current trends.

Nestle’s vegan products

This one brand is ruling all Indians’ hearts with its creations. Be it Maggi or chocolates like KitKat, it is a name known to every household. Apart from these well-known names, Nestle is the proud owner of vegan products like Wunda, Oat Milk, Garden Gourmet, and KitKat V.

Wunda

Wunda is a pea-based ready-to-drink beverage. It has multiple uses: one can drink it directly out of the pack or use it for cooking or frothing. The beverage has a high nutritive value. It is high in fiber and a good source of vitamins and minerals like vitamin D, B2, B12, and calcium. At the same time, it has a low sugar and fat content.

Oat Milk

Oat milk is one of the recent 2023 launches. Nestle already has a plant-based creamer category called Natural Bliss. This ready-to-drink oat milk is an expansion of this category. It is a blend of oats and fava beans with a protein content of 5g per serving. Apart from the new launch, other existing plant-based creamers are Oat milk creamer and oat-almond milk coffee mate.

Garden Gourmet: a meat category for vegan products

Garden Gourmet is a category for plant-based meat. These are chilled products that require heating. The product portfolio includes,

• Vrimp is a plant-based alternative to shrimp.
• Vuna is the replacement for tuna.
• Sensational Burger, mince, and sausages are the meat alternative.
• Sensational fillet is marinated vegan fillet pieces.

KitKat V

KitKat V is a breakthrough for Nestle in vegan confectionery. The product contains rice extract as a substitute for milk. The first test launch happened in the UK and other countries in 2021. The second phase of the launch took place in 2022 across 15 countries. It was based on the consumer response to the test launch. 

Kellogg’s vegan products

Though breakfast cereals occupy most of the product portfolio of Kellogg’s. Yet this brand has one major brand dedicated to plant-based products, Morningstar Farm. The complete product range is ready-to-cook frozen.

Morningstar Farm

It has been a leading plant-based meat player for over 40 years. They have experience dealing with soy protein. They have a wide range of products, both breaded and non-breaded. In 2020, they extended their line to a new range called Incogmeato. This was done to give customers the experience of eating real meat. Incogmeato range behaved like real meat in terms of cooking, taste, and looks.

• Morningstar Farm’s range of frozen products;
  • Chicken nuggets, popcorn, and pepperoni pizza bite
  • Sausage, hot dogs, meatballs, and corn dog
  • Chaurizo nacho bites
• Incogmeato’s range of refrigerated products;
  • Chicken nuggets, tenders, and burger patty
  • Ground meat

Unilever vegan products

It is a brand known for Wall’s, Cornetto, Magnum, Knorr, and many more. It has joined the race with the launch of vegan or non-dairy ice creams, and dressings.

Magnum

In the year 2022, Unilever launched its Vegan Magnum range at the onset of Veganuary. The first launch was the bite-size multi-pack stick bars. It started with two flavors: Classic and Almond. And ended up receiving the PETA Vegan Food Award. However, they also focused on expanding the flavor range and came up with Vegan Hazelnut Crunch the same year.

The next year, Veganuary 2023, witnessed the launch of Vegan Raspberry Swirl. It is raspberry ice cream with raspberry sauce dipped in vegan chocolate.

Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy vegan products

The non-dairy ice cream pints were launched in 18 flavors by Ben & Jerry’s in the U.S. by the end of 2022. In the same year, the company launched a few more products in various parts of the world. Like in Europe, they came up with a Non-dairy Chocolatey Love A-fair that ended up winning the Best Vegan Ice Cream Award of 2022 from PETA UK. The dairy cookies got replaced by non-dairy cookies in Cookie Dough Mini Cups. And the Non-dairy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough introduced in Australia and the Vegano Bar of Coconut Seven Layer in Brazil.

Last, the Non-dairy Oatmeal Dream Pie was introduced during the 2023 Veganuary. Apart from being dairy-free, it contains gluten-free Oatmeal cookies and Marshmallow Swirls.

Wall’s

Wall’s is also following the lead and has come up with many varieties. And in 2022, many launches took place around the world. For instance, Polland witnessed the launch of Agida Big Milk in the vegan range both in pint and stick, the Raspberry and Strawberry pints. They introduced the non-dairy version of the popular Aussie Golden Gaytime Ice Cream. And Germany got Blueberry Coconut Popsicles and Cremissimo Vegan Bourbon Vanilla.

Hellmann’s Mayo

In the vegan mayo, the egg was replaced by plant-based choices. The mayo range has many flavors: Cheese & Roasted Garlic, Sundried Tomato & Basil, Avocado & Lime, and Garlic & Herb. BBC Good Food named the Vegan Garlic Mayo the best-flavored mayo in 2023.

Tata Simply Better

Tata has four variants to offer under this section: Nuggets, Burger Patty, Spicy Finger, and Awadhi Seekh Kabab. It is a plant-based product made of soya proteins and wheat gluten. A very interesting fact about this product is that it can be stored either at room temperature or in the freezer. And has a maximum shelf life of 9 months. But once opened, storing it at or below -18 ℃ is recommended. The product has been on the market since June 2022.

Licious

One can’t leave Licious behind when talking about meat and meat products. Licious is a leading brand dealing with fresh or refrigerated meat and fish products. They are D2C brands and sell their products through apps. The products reach customers directly from the factory. They launched a very talked-about category named Uncrave. These are plant-based meats, both in chicken and mutton variants, but are mostly kababs. The launch happened at the end of 2022.

Conclusion

Though we see a sharp increase in the demand for vegan products. Yet it is too early to speculate on the success of these products in real terms. As there are a few classic examples of failure in this sector. Like Kellog’s Incogmeato Burger and Nestle’s Wunda and Garden Gourmet in the UK and Ireland. Both are facing major losses, and the products will soon be out of the market.

What must have gone wrong? First, the market is overloaded with such products. Second, there is a high production cost involved. Third, the consumer has yet to develop a taste for plant meat. In spite of that, every year many companies continue to try their luck in the market.

But we can’t say the same thing for the confectionary. The plant-based ice creams are really picking up the pace. In the near future, we may see a lot of new advances.