Global plant-based sales rise, U.S. market continues to slip

Global demand for plant-based foods kept moving forward, but the U.S. market went the other way. Worldwide sales rose 3% from 2024 to 2025 to $28.9 billion, while U.S. plant-based sales fell for a second straight year, sliding to $7.9 billion across meat, dairy, eggs, protein powders and liquids, tofu, meals and baked goods.

That split tells the real story. The category is not collapsing everywhere at once; it is fragmenting by geography and by product type. U.S. sales dropped 4% from 2023 to 2024 and another 2% from 2024 to 2025, while unit sales fell 3% over the same stretch. In a protein aisle where shoppers are increasingly unforgiving, that is not a small wobble. It is a sign that plant-based brands are still struggling to justify their place against cheaper and more familiar options.

The familiar barriers are still doing the damage. Plant-based foods remained priced above conventional counterparts even after some animal-based categories posted larger price increases. Taste gaps also continue to haunt the segment, and the value proposition has not caught up with what consumers expect when they reach for protein. The result is a market that still has demand, but not enough conviction to keep buyers coming back at the same pace.

The numbers inside the category are just as uneven. Plant-based meat and seafood generated $1 billion in 2025, but both sales and unit volume fell sharply. That is a tough signal for a segment that once carried the most hype, because it suggests the problem is not awareness alone. Texture, flavor and repeat purchase matter more than branding now, and shoppers are still voting with their carts.

Plant-based milks remain the biggest anchor in the market. Sales reached $2.7 billion in 2025, and the segment held a 13% share of total U.S. retail milk sales. Even there, though, the category’s strength says more about its established role in the dairy case than about broad momentum across plant protein. The lesson for brands is blunt: plant-based can still grow, but only if it solves for taste, texture and price with the same seriousness that animal-protein snacks and dairy already bring to shelf.