USA – The Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), the trade association representing 180 plant-based food companies has partnered with Dot Foods, the largest food industry redistributor in North America.
According to PBFA, the new partnership aims to increase access to plant-based foods by helping more plant-based food companies increase their distribution potential. PBFA said that it will support companies with onboarding.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Dot Foods and address a key barrier for many plant-based food companies: distribution,” said Sabina Vyas, senior director of strategic initiatives for the Plant Based Foods Association.
“This partnership will help companies with scalability and will ultimately result in consumers having more plant-based options everywhere they eat outside of the home.”
While the demand for plant-based foods is on the rise coupled by increased innovation in the plant-based space, the association says that being able to scale fast enough to reach consumer demand can be a challenge for plant-based food companies.
Through the partnership with Dot, PBFA said the partners offer a platform that serves as a connector to all major operators, distributors, and retailers.
The association claims that if a plant-based food manufacturer works with Dot, their products have the potential to enter new markets that would have otherwise been difficult to reach.
Additionally, with PBFA’s recent launch of The Power Plant, a grab-n-go, and culinary training program, this new partnership with Dot Foods is expected to provide program participants with increased confidence in the consistent supply of plant-based foods for their retail and food service needs.
“Our team at Dot Foods is seeing the market for plant-based foods explode,” said Rodd Willis, director of natural and specialty for Dot.
“We want to ensure our customers have access to a larger variety of these foods, and this partnership with PBFA will help us do that.”
Recent data released by the PBFA and The Good Food Institute (GFI) shows US retail sales of plant-based foods have grown 11.4% in the past year, bringing the total plant-based market value to US$5 billion.
The leading drivers of plant-based sales continue to be plant-based milks, meat, dairy alternatives in general, and plant-based meals with the plant-based yogurt category registering the fastest growth at 31%.
