More than half (53%) of the shoppers who turned their backs on plant-based drinks over the past 12 months would be likely to return to the category, new research from Oddlygood has revealed.
The poll of 2,000 consumers found that 62% of lapsed users still felt positive about plant-based drinks, despite the market falling 0.8% in value over the past year, according to the Finnish plant-based brand.
The survey, commissioned to identify growth opportunities, quizzed non-users, low users, and lapsed users (who had given up drinking plant-based products in the past 12 months).
Clear, accredited on-pack health information was cited as the top reason that would motivate the latter group, 49% of whom were younger shoppers aged under 35, to go back to plant-based drinks (28%), followed by taste (26%) and price (26%).
The findings also identified similar motivations among low users who cited clear and accredited on-pack health labelling as the principal driver (33%), followed by confidence that the drinks contained natural ingredients (27%).
Non-users were more likely to be drawn in by a coconut drink over the more popular oat varieties with taste (22%) and price (19%) being key factors.
“One of the biggest growth opportunities for plant-based drinks, gurts and desserts lies with the many consumers who don’t yet choose them – and those who have recently lapsed,” said Niko Vuorenmaa, Oddlygood Group chief executive. “To unlock this, we need to understand what holds them back and what will inspire them to try again.”
Key barriers for shoppers in the yoghurt alternatives and desserts category were taste and health perceptions, but quality was a bigger challenge here than in drinks.
Over a fifth (22%) of lapsed users felt they were paying more for an inferior product and 21% believed plant-based versions tasted artificial, while 22% said they were too bland.
”Real growth won’t come from preaching to the converted, but from engaging the consumers outside the category – this report is about exploring how we, as one of Europe’s largest plant-based challengers, can do this and how the category needs to evolve,” said Vuorenmaa.
Oddlygood, a leading player in the Nordic plant-based market, acquired Rude Health in October 2024, with the ambition of growing both brands and becoming Europe’s leading plant-based challenger.
In July, Oddlygood announced it had hired Innocent’s former marketing lead Katie Simpson to spearhead growth within the business.
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