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I am starting a business in the direct-to-consumer online food space where members are subscribing to a weekly box of plant-based pantry products. I need market analysis including numbers and demographic information on this industry. Start taking a look at companies like Naturebox and Mantry for context.
Hi there! Thanks for contacting Wonder for a market analysis of the direct-to-consumer online food subscription industry, including numbers and demographic information. The most useful sources for answering this question were media reports and industry publications.
The short version is that Naturebox is proof that there is a large demand for an all-natural snack food subscription box. 22.8M Americans follow a Vegetarian-inclined diet, while more than a third of consumers are open to plant-based products. Plant-based protein and dairy alternatives are a growing market and show the increasing market opportunity.
Below is a deep dive of my findings.
NATUREBOX
There are more than 2,000 subscription box services in the USA. Naturebox is proof that there is a large demand for an all-natural snack food subscription box. In 2016, Naturebox was the 20th most popular subscription box service in the USA.
Naturebox has raised $58.5M in funding. The company brought in nearly $50M in revenue in 2014 and projected this to double in the following year. The company has one million Facebook fans, and ships around 5M boxes per year. In comparison, the healthy snack subscription service Graze also has a track record for growth, with revenues up 29% to £68M in the year ended 2015. Graze has around 1.7M monthly visitors.
Naturebox is an online service that home-delivers an assortment of healthy snacks to consumers on a monthly basis. Boxes are priced between $20 and $50 each. Naturebox's business plan sees it offer more than 100 unique products, shipping to all 50 states (and Canada) in its attempt to eat into the $64BN snack-food category.
INDUSTRY SIZE AND DEMOGRAPHICS
The market for plant-based foods is growing. According to research from Innova Market Insights, the number of new food items in the US with plant-based claims rose to 320 in 2016, from 220 in 2015 and just 94 in 2012.
A study from the Vegetarian Times found that there are 7.3M Vegetarians in the USA, and that 22.8M follow a Vegetarian-inclined diet. More than a third of consumers are open to plant-based products. 59% of Vegetarians are female, and 41% are male. 42% are age 18 to 34 years old; 40.7% are 35 to 54; and 17.3% are over 55. 57.1% have followed a vegetarian diet for more than 10 years; 18% for 5 to 10 years; 10.8% for 2 to 5 years, and 14.1% for less than 2 years.
PLANT-BASED PROTEIN
An opportunity exists in the area of plant-based protein. Protein consumption is highest in developed countries and exceeds estimated daily requirements in all the world's regions. In the US and Canada, about 30g of consumed protein per person is plant-based.
Plant-based proteins can be less expensive than animal-based ones. Therefore, companies have an opportunity to sell reformulated products with a greater share of plant-based ingredients at a lower price and increased profit.
DAIRY ALTERNATIVES
The market for non-dairy products is also skyrocketing, and meat alternatives sales are expected to reach $5BN by 2020. The dairy alternatives market is projected to grow globally from $8.2BN in 2014 to $19.5BN in 2020, with 15.5% growth from 2015-2020. Soymilk is expected to be largest segment at $13.6BN by 2020, while almond milk will have fastest growth rate through 2020 at 16%.
CONCLUSION
In summary, Naturebox is proof that there is a large demand for an all-natural snack food subscription box. 22.8M Americans follow a Vegetarian-inclined diet, while more than a third of consumers are open to plant-based products. Plant-based protein and dairy alternatives are a growing market and show the increasing market opportunity.
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