At the Global Forum for Plant-Based and Alternative Proteins, Duke’s Kate Stanley contributed to a panel titled “Consumer Perceptions of Future Foods” where she discussed the current consumer base for alternative proteins, opportunities for the sector to meet consumers’ wants and needs in both the short- and long-terms, the importance of considering cultural foodways, and how the term “future foods” may invoke different meanings among those engaged with diverse aspects of the food system.
“I emphasized that, while it’s the role of researchers, food scientists, companies, and other food system actors to think about and plan for what products might be available in the food system in the future—whether that be a year, five years, ten years from now, or longer—consumers are only concerned with what foods are currently available on the market,” said Stanley. “From some of our recent research, we heard from alternative protein stakeholders that the sector has faced challenges before when media and marketing attention was placed on products that were not yet available on the market. Consumers assumed these products were already accessible, causing confusion. We need to find the balance between innovation and accessibility to ensure that consumers have access to tasty, affordable products, and that they know where to access them and how to cook them in a way that aligns with their cultural food preferences.”
The Global Forum for Plant-Based and Alternative Proteins seeks to accelerate the adoption of plant-based and alternative proteins by fostering global collaboration across industries, research institutions, and policymakers with a focus on the Global South and historically marginalized groups in the Global North.