Plant‑protein market forecasts
Multiple market reports project rapid growth across plant‑protein categories — for example, plant‑based protein supplements are forecast to reach US$6.79 billion by 2032 and textured vegetable protein is projected at US$4.38 billion by 2031. (Adjacencies include potato protein isolates forecast to hit about US$1.335 billion by 2036 and growing chickpea markets cited in specialist reports.) ( )
Forecasts for plant proteins are getting bigger, even as some finished plant-based foods are still struggling at retail. One set of reports puts plant-based protein supplements at $6.79 billion by 2032 and textured vegetable protein at $4.38 billion by 2031. (datamintelligence.com; datamintelligence.com) The supplements forecast starts from a 2024 market size of $3.61 billion and implies an 8.21% compound annual growth rate through 2032, according to DataM Intelligence. Its textured vegetable protein estimate starts from $2.57 billion in 2022 and implies 6.91% annual growth through 2031. (datamintelligence.com; datamintelligence.com) Plant protein is the ingredient layer of the category: powders, isolates, concentrates, and textured inputs that food companies use in shakes, bars, meat substitutes, and packaged foods. A broader 2025-2030 forecast from MarketsandMarkets put the global plant-based protein market at $23.89 billion in 2025 and $34.97 billion in 2030. (marketsandmarkets.com) That distinction matters because consumer demand is uneven across shelves. The Good Food Institute said U.S. plant-based meat and seafood dollar sales fell 10% in 2025, while plant-based protein powder and liquid products held more than 5% of their conventional category’s dollar sales. (gfi.org) Retail data also show growth is shifting toward categories that look more like nutrition products than direct meat replacements. The Good Food Institute said some U.S. categories posted meaningful 2024 sales growth, including plant-based protein powders and liquids, bars, ready-to-drink beverages, tofu, tempeh, and seitan. (gfi.org) The agricultural side of the story is broader than soy. A March 2026 Mordor Intelligence forecast valued the plant protein market at $13.66 billion in 2026 and projected $17.16 billion by 2031, citing demand for sources including soy, wheat, pea, and potato. (mordorintelligence.com) Chickpeas sit in that supply chain as both a crop and an ingredient. Future Market Insights said this week that the chickpea protein market could rise from $226.9 million in 2026 to $571.0 million in 2036, a 10.8% annual growth rate. (prnewswire.com) Governments are also giving plant proteins more formal recognition in diet guidance. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, call for a variety of plant-sourced protein foods, including beans, peas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy. (usda.gov) Pulses have a second role beyond food formulation: they are farm crops that can help fix nitrogen in soil. The Food and Agriculture Organization says pulses support healthy diets and sustainable food systems, and the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook tracks chickpeas among the major pulse markets through 2032. (fao.org; fao.org) The result is a market where the ingredient story can look stronger than the finished-product story. Forecast firms keep projecting growth for powders, textured proteins, and crop-derived isolates, while retail data show consumers still sorting which plant-based foods they actually want to buy. (datamintelligence.com; gfi.org; gfi.org)
