The market research organization SPINS released a report showing that the plant-based market is growing at a rate of 29% per year. SPINS said this is almost twice the 15% growth rate of the entire food and beverage market. Similarly, the growth rate of plant protein products in most areas is twice that of animal protein products.
Plant-based products are no longer niche products. From a nutritional point of view, the protein content of pea protein is very high. Although pea protein is not a complete protein, its amino acid score is as high as 0.78, which is much higher than most other plant proteins. Functionally speaking, pea protein has good texture, emulsification and water binding properties, and has high solubility, which are key attributes for beverage applications.