Retail giant Target announced this week the launch of Good & Gather Plant Based, a new line of more than 30 plant-based food and beverage products. The move is a reflection of the growing demand for plant-based foods, and Target’s new branded line could help push the category further into the mainstream.
Good & Gather Plant Based is an extension of Target’s Good & Gather brand, which currently sells more than 2,000 products found throughout the store including pantry items, dairy, deli and frozen foods. It even sells meatless patties and chick’n tenders. The new Good & Gather Plant Based brand will expand those offerings to include new items such as cashew dip, non-dairy chocolate-flavored mousse dip, and buffalo-style cauliflower wings. In the press announcement, Target says that most items will cost less than $5.
Target jumping into the plant-based food space with such gusto further illustrates the growing importance of plant-based food to retail’s bottom line. According to recent data from the Good Food Institute, the U.S. retail market for plant-based foods is $7 billion, up from $5.5 billion in 2019. Additionally, plant-based food sales grew 2.5 time faster than total food sales between 2018 and 2020.
As Liz Specht, Director of Science and Technology for the Good Food Institute pointed out on Twitter:
But Target’s introduction of Good & Gather Plant Based isn’t just a reaction to increased demand for plant-based. With most products costing less than $5, Target’s branded push and massive reach could help drive even more demand for plant-based products. Target says its Good & Gather brand generated more than $2 billion in sales last year (and remember, U.S. plant-based was $7 billion last year). If Target can position its Good & Gather Plant Based as more mainstream and put its promotional muscle behind it, that could actually move the needle for the nascent plant-based category.
