Tiny entrepreneurial start-up Caulipower’s vegetable-based pizza achieved $45 million in US sales in 2018, its first full year on the market, and is anticipating $100 million this year. That’s a far more impressive performance, says Julian Mellentin, director of food business consultancy New Nutrition Business, than that of meatless burger maker Beyond Meat, which managed US grocery sales of $50 million in the same year, despite massive publicity, hype and over $200 million of investment.
“The success of Caulipower – and other plant-based brands just like it – underscores that consumers don't want extruded plant protein burgers as much as they want convenient, all-natural vegetables,” says Mellentin, author of a new report, “How to succeed with the plant-based food trend: Four strategies for success – and one to avoid”.
