The growing popularity of meat- and dairy-free foods has meant that manufacturing sites of vegan produce are not equipped to meet increasing demand.

9, , , , , a:1:{i:0;s:8:”defaults”;}, conveyor belt pu blades, Vegan Manufacturing Failing To Meet Consumer Demands, The growing popularity of meat- and dairy-free foods has meant that manufacturing sites of vegan produce are not equipped to meet increasing demand., The growing popularity of meat- and dairy-free foods has meant that manufacturing sites of vegan produce are not equipped to meet increasing demand.

VBites founder Heather Mills recently spoke at the Global Meat News’ conference, The Future Of Plant-Based Proteins, telling attendees the products available these days are great, but the factories producing them need scaling up.

Food Manufacture quoted her as saying: “There need to be massive factories for where this market movement is going – it’s not a trend, it’s a movement.”

She noted the laws are set to change next year that will ban the production of meat, fish and dairy alternatives in a mixed setting due to cross contamination risks.

Therefore, Ms Mills emphasised the importance for the sector to concentrate on its manufacturing facilities, investing in more conveyor belt pu blades, large-scale units, and delivery transport.

Showing support for Ms Mills, Laith Wahbi, global technical director of the savoury business unit at flavours developer Firmenich, said there is a lack of infrastructure to maintain this growing trend for plant-based food alternatives.

“If we’re not careful we’ll have a strained supply chain where we won’t be able to deliver,” Mr Wahbi warned.

Indeed, demand for meat-free food in Britain rose by a huge 987 per cent in 2017, according to a survey by takeaway service Just Eat.

It also reported that going vegan was the biggest food trend last year, as more people are looking for plant-based alternatives to meat products, Plant Based News revealed.

The news provider also published results from a survey by finder.com, which showed there are currently 700,000 vegans in Britain. However, the trend is set to grow by 327 per cent over the next few months, with the number of people on a vegan diet increasing to 2.9 million by 2020., field_544dcaa8220f0, , field_543e9601d7f94, 39