Plant-based brands risk losing consumer interest, says Flora exec

Speaking to Grocery Gazette, Hepburn said that plant-based brands should not market themselves simply as vegan, but instead as a product that consumers can be confident will taste good or perform well as a substitute ingredient if they wish to stay interesting to consumers.

Describing how Flora has repositioned itself for consumers in an era where some plant-based brands are facing a wane in consumer demand, the marketing executive said the fault could be found in the way some brands market their vegan products.

Hepburn said: “Marketing isn’t always easy. I think where some parts of the plant-based industry have gone wrong is that they have led with plant-based – when actually that is not the main reason why people pick up food products.

“For many [consumers], it is more interesting to ask ‘how does this taste’, ‘how am I going to cook and bake with it’ and ‘how is it going to perform’.”

He noted that his advice to heads of marketing in all businesses is “making sure your products are quality, but also engaging and reassuring consumers” to avoid ending up “niche”.

Hepburn said that Flora Food Group’s latest mission is ensuring it is giving consumers the confidence that its products are “perfect” for cooking and baking occasions.

“Increasingly we talk about taste and performance, and only add as a ‘by the way’ that the products are plant-based. It’s not necessarily something we lead with because what we’re leading is with great taste,” he said.

The executive’s comments follow similar sentiments shared by plant-based brand Deliciously Ella’s chief executive Mathew Mills last month, who cautioned of a split in the plant-based community.

Warning the industry had undergone a “bifurcation”, Mathew Mills said products that aim to mimic meat brands are in “substantial decline”, following investors over-estimating consumer demand, whereas the natural side of the plant based sector continued to be in “strong growth”.

This week ready-meal brand Allplants became the latest mimic plant-based brand to collapse due to a wane in consumer demand as it filed for administrators and announced a wave of layoffs after recent struggles to bounce back from a period of sustained losses.

Grocery Gazette