• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Tree Top Home
  • Consumer Products
  • Foodservice
  • Ingredients
  • Contract Manufacturing
Tree Top Food Ingredients
Fruit Ingredients
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blogs
  • Fruit Products
      • Fruit Purées
        • Single Strength
          • Apple Blend Purée
          • Apricot Purée
          • Blackberry Purée
          • Blueberry Purée
          • Organic Apple Purée
          • Organic Peach Purée (Cling and Freestone)
          • Organic Pear Purée
          • Peach Purée (Cling and Freestone)
          • Pear Purée
          • Plum Purée
          • Raspberry Purée
          • Strawberry Purée
          • Apple Sauce
      • Fruit Purées
        • Concentrated
          • Apple Purée Concentrate
          • Apricot Purée Concentrate
          • Blackberry Purée Concentrate
          • Blueberry Purée Concentrate
          • Organic Apple Purée Concentrate
          • Organic Apricot Purée Concentrate
          • Peach Blend Purée Concentrate (Cling and Freestone)
          • Pear Purée Concentrate
          • Plum Purée Concentrate
          • Red Raspberry Purée Concentrate
          • Red Tart Cherry Purée Concentrate
          • Strawberry Purée Concentrate
      • Fruit Juice Concentrates
        • Apple Juice Concentrate
        • Blackberry Juice Concentrate
        • Blueberry Juice Concentrate
        • Pear Juice Concentrate
        • Raspberry Juice Concentrate
        • Strawberry Juice Concentrate
      • Dried Fruit
        • Dried Apples – Low Moisture
        • Dried Apples – Intermediate Moisture
        • Dried Apples – Regular Moisture
        • Dried Fruit Powders
        • Dried Pumpkin Flake Powder
      • Fruit Preparations
      • Pet Food Ingredients
      • Specialty Markets
        • Hard Ciders and Alcohol
        • Reduced Sugars
      • Northwest Naturals
  • Resources
      • Specification Sheets
        • Dried Fruit
        • Fruit Purees
        • Apple Sauce
        • Fruit Juice Concentrates
        • Frozen Fruit
        • Fruit Preparations
      • Regulatory Documents
        • Quality Compliance Summary
        • Kosher Certificates
        • Organic Certificates
        • Storage & Shelf Life
        • Other Documents
        • New Customer Packet
      • Product Brochures
        • About Tree Top/Overview
        • Fruit Ingredient Full Product Catalogs
        • Dried Fruit
        • Strawberry Products-Frozen
        • Dairy
        • Hard Ciders
        • Pet Food
        • Northwest Naturals
        • Contract Manufacturing
        • Fruit Serving Calculations
        • Fruit Acid Cards
        • Seasonal Fruit Harvest Chart
      • Videos
      • Webinars
      • White Papers
      • Calculators
      • Market Trends News
      • Contract Manufacturing
  • Applications
      • Biscuits – Scones
      • Breads
      • Cakes
      • Cookies
      • Drinks
      • Entrees
      • Frozen Novelties
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Sugar – No Sugar
      • Muffins
      • Other Desserts
      • Pet Food
      • Pies
      • Plant Based
      • Salads
      • Sauces
      • Sides
      • Smoothies
      • Snack Bars
      • Snacks
      • Soups
      • Vegetable
  • Crop Info
        • Crop Report Blog

        • General Crop Info

        • Meet our Growers & Field Reps

        • Crop Information
        • Apples
        • Blackberries
        • Cherries
        • Grapes
        • Peaches
        • Pears
        • Raspberries
        • Strawberries
  • Samples
  • Fruit Products
    • Fruit Purées
    • Fruit Juice Concentrates
    • Dried Fruit
    • Fruit Preparations
    • Pet Food Ingredients
    • Specialty Markets
      • Hard Ciders & Alcohol
      • Reduced Sugars
    • Northwest Naturals
  • Resources
    • Specification Sheets
    • Regulatory Documents
    • Product Brochures
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Calculators
    • Market Trends News
    • Contract Manufacturing
  • Crop Info
    • Crop Report Blog
    • General Crop Info
    • Meet Our Growers & Field Reps
  • Blogs
    • Crop Report Blog
    • R&D Blog
    • Market Insights Blog
    • Pet Scoop Blog
    • Quality Food & Safety Insights
  • Sample Request
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Applications
  • Tree Top Sites
    • Tree Top Home
    • Consumer Products
    • Foodservice
    • Ingredients
    • Contract Manufacturing

Tree Top Fruit Ingredients

More Fruit, More Forms

Hide Search

Demand for Plant-Based Foods Showing Continued Growth

Jeannie Swedberg · Jul 30, 2019

Late last year The Economist declared 2019 to be the Year of the Vegan. In the featured article, it stated that 25% of Millennials age 25 to 34 were identified as vegetarians or vegans. While this prediction gained a lot of attention in the food industry, what I find interesting is not veganism, which is still a small percentage of the total U.S. population, but the mainstreaming of plant-forward eating – flexitarians. This is people across the age spectrum increasing their ‘plant’ or fruit/vegetable/legume/grain intake. As a result, retail sales of plant-based foods in the U.S. grew 11% in the past year, totaling $4.5 billion, according to SPINS data released earlier this month from the Plant Based Food Association and The Good Food Institute.  Astonishing growth, to say the least, and when you couple this with data released from Euromonitor, which reported the global meat-substitute market is currently worth $19.5 billion globally, it is no wonder food companies are taking notice.

Health and wellness takes center stage

Consumers, however, are not forsaking animal protein altogether. Instead they’re embracing more plant foods. Different reasons are cited for the increasing interest in plant-forward options, but the most common are health and wellness. That extends to individuals and their families, as well as animal welfare and the overall health of the planet. Basically, eating more plant foods makes people feel better about themselves and their impact on the environment.

Plant-based meat is having a moment

Because of the mainstream demand for plant-based meat alternatives, new product activity in the space has exploded. Both retailers and restaurants are making room for plant-based meats on their shelves and menus. As the market heats up, it’s also interesting to note that today’s meat alternative consumers are not willing to sacrifice taste in the same way vegans or strict vegetarians often do. Yes, they want to increase their plant consumption, but not at the expense of food enjoyment.

Not unexpectedly, there’s a lot of entrepreneurship in the meat alternative segment. New to the market, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are just two of the players that come to mind because of the media attention they’ve received. However, there are plenty of established food manufacturing companies introducing plant-based options that have mass-market health appeal as well.

Where does “clean label” fit?

As of today, consumers appear to be more focused on the plant-based health halo, and not the ingredient decks. After reviewing the ingredient panels of several meat-alternative options, I found that many contain bulking agents, stabilizers, thickeners and gels, including methylcellulose, maltodextrin, and carrageenan. I am by no means insinuating these are bad ingredients, just pointing out that this seems counter intuitive to consumers demand for recognizable ingredients. Maybe the goodness of plant-based foods will outweigh their desire for simple ingredients, if not, the industry will need to find clean-label solutions to these additives. My guess is – clean label is coming to this category.

Tree Top’s fruit solution for simple ingredient decks

For food formulators exploring “clean-label solutions” to bulking agents, stabilizers, thickeners, or gels – fruit powder could be the ideal fix.  Apple, pear, and plum powders have soluble and insoluble dietary fibers, these fibers provide bulking, thickening or water binding capabilities. Additionally, the fruit sugars present in these powders have the benefit of aiding in surface browning — helping to achieve the brown-char-broil appearance of cooked meat.

Fruit can also be the hero in replacing vegetable oil/fat in your formulation. Our research team discovered that the combination of pears, apples, and plums performs similarly to fat/oils in many applications. 

Lastly, the acids found in fruits can enhance flavor, and can be used to adjust the pH levels to inhibit micro growth.  

To learn more about Tree Top’s fruit powders, explore our product offerings, or to see how fruit can assist with pH – download our white paper, “Clearing “Hurdles” with Real Fruit Ingredients.”

Request a sample here

Blog Categories

Sign Up For Our Latest News

Receive the latest news and research right in your inbox!

Blog Home

Categories

  • Apples
  • Apricots
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Cherries
  • Concord Grapes
  • Crop Report Blog
  • Market Insights Blog
  • Nectarines
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Pet Scoop Blog
  • Plums
  • Quality Food and Safety Insights
  • Raspberries
  • Research and Development Blog
  • Strawberries
  • Uncategorized
  • Weather Conditions
  • Ingredients Products
  • Fruit Purées
  • Apple Sauce
  • Fruit Juice Concentrates
  • Dried Fruit
  • Specialty Markets
  • Fruit Preparations
  • Resources
  • Request Samples
  • Spec Sheets
  • Regulatory Documents
  • Crop Information
  • Harvest Chart
  • Applications
  • Sales Materials
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • Market Trends
  • About Us
  • Our Story
  • Facilities
  • Citizenship/Sustainability
  • Contract Manufacturing
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Blogs
  • Crop Update
  • Research and Development
  • Market Insights
  • Pet Scoop
  • Quality Food and Safety Insights
Northwest Naturals
Tree Top Ingredients Newsletter

Sign up to receive our monthly blog full of industry news and insights designed to keep you informed – delivered to your inbox.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.