Consumers who choose plant-based meals at restaurants spend more than their carnivore counterparts, so why are there so few vegetarian options on the menu?
The question is central to the Good Food Institute’s most recent research, which analysts discussed Tuesday at the organization’s webinar, Business of Alt Proteins: Plant-Based Meat in Foodservice.
In short, plant-based foods don’t have a demand problem, they have an availability and positioning problem, according to Taylor Leet-Otley, senior consumer research lead, Good Food Institute.
Plant-based spending
Eleni Chalmers, senior market research analyst, Good Food Institute, explained that consumers who order plant-based meals at quick-service restaurants spend an average $1,950 a year, roughly $500 more than meat-only consumers. They also eat out about 50% more, she said.
This makes foodservice a prime place for food manufacturers to expand their plant-based products, Chalmers said.
“It gets you in front of new customers and new occasions,” she said. “So we can increase trial and awareness by offering plant-based meat within foodservice sectors, and we found that these customers who are purchasing in foodservice actually have really great value [to the industry].”
What’s driving plant-based?
Plant-based meat analogs are still driving most of the category’s sales in foodservice, making up 54%, according to Good Food Institute data.
Tofu and tempeh made up the second-largest percentage of sales at 36%, followed by grains, nuts and veggies at 9%.
“While we have seen declines in the pound share [meat analogs] over the past several years, we do see that consumers are still choosing these products. And again, by improving the taste and texture, we could be helping these products more,” Chalmers said.
Burger analogs are still the top-performing plant-based dish in foodservice, she said, noting that the rising price of meat has lowered the price gap between plant-based burgers.
“If that price gap goes down for plant-based meat, it does help it become a more attractive product for food operators to purchase,” she said.
Opportunities with venues
Quick-service restaurants remain the top venue for purchasing plant-based foods, but non-commercial sectors are the fastest-growing, according to Chalmers.
Those include education, healthcare, business and government food venues, she explained.
“Educational institutions grew significantly in the last several years, growing from a 13% market share in 2021 to a 21% in 2025,” she said. “So, it really gives us this idea that these non-commercial outlets could be additional places that we want to work with to really maximize the consumer reach and uptick of these products.”
Demand and availability
Consumers are generally open to the idea of plant-based meals, with nearly three-quarters of consumers from the Gen X demographic and younger saying they are “somewhat likely to eat plant-based meat and dairy in the future,” according to Leet-Otley.
He noted that vegetarians and vegans make up a small portion of the consumers who are open to plant-based foods.
“It’s mostly omnivores who are just interested in adding plant-based options to their diets for several reasons,” he said. “Some are doing it to swap for conventional meat, but others are just doing it for added benefits like sustainability, health and convenience.”
Purchases are concentrated among a small group of consumers – roughly 7% of US adults – and two-thirds of those purchased only one plant-based dish, Leet-Otley said.
That could be due in part to the fact that restaurants provide few plant-based options, he said.
“There’s actually a very big gap when we consider the number of people open to plant-based eating,” he said. “Consumers’ frustrations with menu penetration are real. A lot of restaurants are just not offering meatless, meat-like options on their menus, and I think that should lead us to ask why there is a mismatch here.”
