Spain’s Plant-Based Sector is “Innovative, Growing and Aimed at Young People” – vegconomist

Innovative, growing, and aimed at young people: this is the plant-based sector in Spain, according to a report that finds 75% of vegan companies expect to see veganism experience “favourable” or “very favourable” growth in Spain over the next two years.

Dr. Estela Díaz, from the Department of Business Management at the Universidad Pontificia Comilla, together with specialized communication agency The Vegan Agency, both of Madrid, compiled this second report on the state of vegan businesses in Spain.

Young people lead the way in post-Covid Spain

Dr. Díaz explains: “The sector seems to have overcome the covid-19 crisis, continues to learn quickly, and is becoming more professional”. The main results of her study can be summarised as follows.

• Vegan companies are innovative: 65% offer a product or service that is new to the market.
• 75% of vegan companies expect to see veganism experience favourable or very favourable growth in Spain over the next two years.
• 26.6% have an annual turnover of more than 100,000€.
• Vegan boom: 60% of the companies were created in the last four years.
• A young audience: vegan businesses target, almost equally, vegan and non-vegan audiences; but the majority are in the Millennial age group (30-40 years old) with 60% and the second place goes to Gen Z.

• Only half have a business plan and a corporate identity developed before starting a business and only 22% have a communication and marketing plan.
• The motivation for entrepreneurship remains the same as last year: animal protection, environmental and health ethics are the main reasons for starting a business.
• The majority (78%) are self-financed, they do not trust in the support of institutions to facilitate the creation of their companies and it is their first venture (65%).
•  Madrid and Catalonia lead the country in terms of entrepreneurship with more than 55%.

Dr. Díaz welcomes the fact that most plant-based companies are reaching a non-vegan public because “the ability to attract the non-vegan segment translates into a greater consolidation of the position of these businesses in the market, which also serves to increase the level of familiarity of the general population with “the vegan world”, an important predictor of the adoption of veganism.”