Are Plant-Based Alternatives Here To Stay?

Meatless options are a huge trend in restaurants in 2019, and private equity firm CapitalSpring, which has invested more than $1-billion in restaurant concepts, is monitoring to see if the trend will be a fad or a long-term sales generator.

Nation's Restaurant News recently covered the trend, with Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods accounting for the bulk of the $192-million investment that Food & Tech Connect reported went into alternative meat and seafood products in 2018. CapitalSpring has noted that menu mix for meatless options has not been more than typical LTO's so far, however the price point that restaurants are able to place on meatless options makes for attractive margins - but it's still too early to determine the long-term viability of the trend. “We’re not really drawing conclusions from that at this point,” Erik Herrmann, Partner & Head of Restaurant Group for CapitalSpring told NRN, adding that, "...

it could be a honeymoon. It’s just too early to tell.”