A recent study by top researchers at Harvard Medical School and King’s College London has revealed that eating a plant-based diet rich in whole foods can help protect against COVID-19. And the staggering results from nearly 600,000 respondents indicate those on a ‘high quality’ healthy vegan diet were not only less likely to catch the virus, but less likely to be hospitalized from it. The global pandemic has clearly put health at the forefront of consumer’s minds and in turn, the product offerings in supermarkets have continued to grow. This rising demand for healthy plant-based alternatives has also set the bar higher for companies within the space, causing companies like Else Nutrition Holdings, Inc. (TSXV:BABY) (OTCQX:BABYF), The Very Good Food Company (TSXV:VERY) (OTCQB:VRYYF), Tattooed Chef (NASDAQ:TTCF), Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) and Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) to launch new products and expand their retail distribution in an effort to gain a slice of the $4.2 billion plant-based food market.
Else Nutrition Holdings, Inc. (TSXV:BABY) (OTCQX:BABYF) continues to grow and expand into new markets as its revenues steadily climb. The company has announced a partnership with Rouses Markets, a locally sourced supermarket company in the American Southeast that promotes local farmers and healthy whole foods.
“Partnering with Rouses Markets is an exciting development for the Else brand”, said Hamutal Yitzhak, CEO, and Co-Founder of Else Nutrition. “In addition to our mutual commitment to support a healthier, more sustainable planet, this partnership significantly bolsters our presence in a region in which we’ve seen demand from parents seeking cleaner, whole food nutrition for their children,” she added.
Else Nutrition Holdings, Inc. has been growing its presence both online and in retail stores across North America. The company’s Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers is now listed on 900+ retail outlets and currently in over 600 retail outlets such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Big-Y, Raley’s, Natural Grocers, AFS, Haggen, Mother’s Markets, and PCC. What’s more, Else Nutrition’s products can also be found online on Amazon.com, iHerb (US, Canada, and additional ~180 countries), Thrive Market, a leading US online platform with more than 500,000 subscribers, and the company’s own e-commerce store, elsenutrition.com.
According to a recent corporate update, Else Nutrition is currently in discussions with additional retailers that represent over 5000 outlets, as well as with other popular online shopping platforms. The company also announced that it plans to launch a series of plant-based complementary nutrition products for babies 6 months and older in several flavors and liquid RTD (Ready-To-Drink) versions of its Complete Nutrition for Kids products in early 2022.
Plant-Based Nutrition Companies Continue To Expand With Health Food Market
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has been expanding and branching out into new locations in Phoenix and Orlando. These new stores represent overall progress as one of the fastest-growing supermarket chains in America. Many consumers are turning to healthy food alternatives and seeking more environmentally-friendly products to fill their pantries. Stores like Sprouts Farmers Market are filling this need while providing distribution for emerging plant-based alternative food producers. The consumer base for this industry has expanded to every region, and there is still a lot of room for these retailers and health food producers to capture larger market shares.
Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) is bolstering its meatless offering with the launch of its brand new plant-based chicken tenders. According to the release, consumer research is showing that the demand for chicken is growing so rapidly that the market is currently in a chicken shortage. As restaurants are struggling to secure more chicken, Beyond Meat is meeting that demand with its new Beyond Chicken Tenders now available in nearly 400 restaurants across the United States.
Another plant-based food alternative company, Tattooed Chef (NASDAQ:TTCF), has announced expansion into Kroger supermarkets with their line of nutritional and environmentally friendly alternatives to popular frozen meals. The company offers frozen pizzas, burrito bowls, salad bowls, mac and cheese, noodles, and other popular frozen food offerings without any animal products. This expansion represents the ability of these new companies to adapt to large mainstream grocery stores and capture a national market share.
Lastly, The Very Good Food Company (TSXV:VERY) (OTCQB:VRYYF) has announced that its wholesale channel has reached 100 retailers throughout the American retail distribution network, marking a 112% increase in its total distribution points in North America since March 2021. The company’s retail distribution network expansion includes Colorado-based natural food and beverage brokerage Green Spoon Sales, KeHE Distributors, a top pure play US wholesale natural, organic, speciality and fresh food brands distributor and the largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in North America, United Natural Foods (UNFI).
The plant-based food industry is undergoing rapid expansion, and more stores are beginning to accept and distribute these products. Companies such as Else Nutrition are spearheading the effort and breaking into new markets with innovative products.
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Featured Image: Megapixl © Juliasudnitskaya
