Do you have what it takes to own a business? Your first answer might be that it depends on the market, but that’s only part of the story. So is thinking it depends on your product. The bottom line is it depends on you.

We tend to hear more about business successes than failures. Although this year, given the pandemic and its economic impacts, we’ve seen plenty of failures, most people still believe that if they want to be a successful business owner, they can. But if you don’t focus on your own drive, abilities, and tolerance for stress and uncertainty, you’re missing a key part of the equation. And if you start a business without really finding out if you should, you’re making a grave mistake.

Say you’ve got a great idea. You’ve got a niche service. You’ve done the research, and there’s space for you to grow a company. Before you start looking for a storefront, look in the mirror by asking yourself these eight simple but vital questions.

1. Can I listen?

Business owners must process a vast amount of verbal communication. They need to be good at listening, adept at assimilating and filtering, and doing it fast — so all communication, from employees to customers to your advisers, needs to result in a positive outcome for your business.

2. Can I lead?

Unless you’re planning on opening a shoeshine stand or a one-person consultancy, you need to be able to lead and motivate people. You’ll get the most value from your employees if they know you value them — and you may need to occasionally swap hopes and aspirations over coffee with your employees to really understand their needs. Once you understand their needs, you can better motivate them, which will in turn help you achieve your own dream. It’s an excellent trade-off.

3. Can I sell?

This question often hits a nerve. Very few products sell themselves. Generally, a business must convince a customer that have a need, and more importantly, that this product meets their need — and delivers the best possible value. If that’s actually true, it’s simply a matter of being interesting enough that the customer is willing to continue a conversation long enough for you to establish these three truths. That’s about being persuasive. If you have any doubt about your ability to persuade, ask your partner what they think. It’s likely you did some sort of sales job on him or her at some very critical juncture. Were you successful?

4. Am I competitive?

To be a good business owner, you must enjoy doing whatever it takes to overcome all your business supremacy challenges. You must be motivated by a burning desire to do these things better than your competition — and realize that few products or services are so unique that your customer can’t get something comparable elsewhere. You must have the need to not only please your customer, but to do it so well you’re beating your competition senseless. How do you know? Check your financial statements — they’re your scoreboard in this game. If you see profits, be ready to reinvest them right back into the business, or you won’t continue winning. That’s what most successful entrepreneurs I’ve dealt with do. They don’t necessarily make money so they can spend it.

5. Am I a hard worker?

Owning your own business is entering into a highly consumptive relationship, so be honest with yourself. Don’t start a business to support your golf habit. You can do that a lot easier with a high-paying job. Business ownership is the wrong avenue if your quest is simply more personal resources. Your own business must be more than just a means to an end. It’s everything — and must be a passion.

6. Am I a risk-taker?

This isn’t a matter of leaving your umbrella at home when there’s rain in the forecast. All growth comes from taking risks and executing at the highest possible level. You’ve also got to be willing to wildcat; dry holes are necessary to find the gusher. If the thought of zero return on your time and money over what could be protracted intervals is too daunting, stay put.

7. Do I have a skill that adds significant value to this market?

Successful business owners are either the best player at a critical position or the second-best player at several positions. You need to have outstanding technical skills if you’re considering a technical business; impeccable sales skills — and the desire to use them consistently and frequently — if you’re considering a sales-driven business. It’s very difficult to drive a business with only strong administrative skills. The only exception may be a franchise, which has an extremely process-driven approach. In my experience, “right-sized” former executives of process-driven public companies are often successful franchisees. In essence, a franchisor turns the operation of a business into a job with clearly defined dos and don’ts included in its recipe for success.

8. Do I have a clear goal for my business?

This last question may be the most critical: the point of your business must be much more than to escape from your current job. To create a business with real value, you need to set out to create and operate a real value business. For a business to be a true asset, it must consistently turn a significant profit after paying you a fair salary. Otherwise, it’s little more than what I call “an incorporated job.” And moving a business from the status of an incorporated job to an asset requires a series of very purposeful, difficult, and risky acts. An uncommitted owner will inevitably fail to execute these acts if they don’t make asset creation a business goal from the start.

I’ve had tough conversations with clients who were dead set on starting their own businesses, just because they had an affinity for a certain product or service. However, if they know deep down they don’t want to engage in the complicated process of value creation, then starting a business means they will endure significant pain, take on outsized risks, and work harder than any employee without achieving a commensurate reward. But if you are willing to work harder and smarter than ever before towards that goal of value creation, that is certainly laudable.

We were a young breakaway agency, packed with talent and hungry for all the opportunities we could get. Our overhead included a ridiculously large budget for salaries that had to be covered every month. We brought in all the clients we could and always asked for their feedback on our work and our agency — how did we do? What could we have done better? Like many start-up businesses, we thought asking for feedback would prove useful and demonstrate that we valued the client relationship above all else. We asked for feedback on almost everything.

Unquestionably, their feedback was filled with good intentions. But our clients tended to be untrained in how to deliver useful feedback. It was often filled with a mix of minute details and opinions, focusing on what was wrong rather than a balanced, useful perspective. The process created tension — our clients were uncomfortable giving feedback and tensed up when they had to. The very act of providing feedback seemed to put them into a negative mindset — the higher the tension, the more negative their feedback.

We’d respond to client feedback as best we could. But it ate up time, eroded our already thin margin, often failed to improve the work, and occasionally increased friction with clients rather than decreased it. We knew there had to be a better way. It was a client-sponsored program that showed a better way, and I have used it ever since: forget about feedback and just focus on feedforward.

We found feedforward could be easily used by even the youngest and most naive clients to give clear future direction. We grabbed the idea and ran with it, using it with every client and internally on candidates, appraisals, office designs, pitch work, and each other. Doing so saved us work, time and money, and helped improve pretty much everything.

While it’s especially useful for agencies and clients, feedforward can work for any enterprise. It can result in meaningful information from any stakeholder, from leadership to consumers. As businesses get back on their feet, we’re facing a climate that’s more competitive than ever, and feedforward can help gain a tremendous advantage.

Here’s how it works:

Get your eyes out of the rear-view mirror. 

Feedback looks at where you were, not where you need to go. It tends to highlight what was wrong, taking energy and focus away from steps for improvement. Meanwhile, time marches on, and you get closer to deadlines every day. Putting yourself in your client’s shoes, consider what it’s like to ride in a car when the driver is constantly checking behind rather than focusing on the road. Doesn’t inspire too much confidence, does it. Without necessarily knowing why, clients get uncomfortable. The friction comes from being asked to provide critique and being concerned that the process of responding could derail momentum and cause delays. 

Focus on what’s in front of you. 

The feedforward structure enables a response from even the most inexperienced clients in a stress-free, organized way. The result is an accurate map of what needs to happen next and a sense of collaboration and shared direction without tension. Couched in the positive, it also tends to build trust. The key is to begin by asking clients to note their instant gut reaction to a proposal, idea, or experience. Sometimes new ideas provoke uncomfortable feelings; we encourage clients to use these feelings as a signal that a new, different, or strong idea might be emerging. In other words, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that they are uneasy about a potential strategy or idea. In fact, it may be a sign of something good.

Ask four essential questions. 

Whoever is providing the feedforward, what’s needed is a response that covers all the bases and allows for everything from initial reactions to tapping into what seems like gut instincts to fuller guidance.

1. What inspires, excites, or moves you? It could be anything, however small or relevant to the brief or work at hand.
2. What works? Or what’s just okay? This is an opportunity to acknowledge which aspects are good but not amazing.
3. What’s missing? This is the chance to give useful guidance. It could be that what’s missing is something that inspires or excites. Or it could be something more ordinary, such as the compulsory requests in a brief.
4. What would make the idea bigger and better? This provides the opportunity to build on what has been done. It also allows clients and others to articulate ideas for the agency to consider.

Feedforward delivers on its full potential when those providing it are totally honest and open. We found that when questions are framed positively, it’s easier to be thorough. I recommend clients write down their feedforward before sharing it — since in conversations, we are often influenced by others. Writing feedforward in advance also gives a client team the chance to align their thoughts and keep the messaging consistent and on point.

What feedforward does is open up a sense of possibility.

Feedforward gives agency teams a way to feel great about what they’re already done and then build on it. It’s certainly worked that way in our firm and likely will in yours.

It has been more than a year since the pandemic forced a huge swath of employers to shutter their offices and require employees to work from home. Now, the nation’s vaccine campaign has changed the course of the pandemic and many employers are ready to welcome back their workers. The question, however, is whether or not the employees will want to come?

The age of the coronavirus demonstrated that productive work can be accomplished in many cases even when employees are not on site. Workers and managers alike can no longer dispute this fact. A recent survey shows that 18 percent of those working from home would prefer to remain remote, while a plurality of workers (42 percent) would prefer a hybrid model — some days in the office and some days working from home. As business eases back into convening in-person for work, the hybrid model may become the predominant prototype — at least in the near term.

Looking ahead to life with fewer restrictions, employees who once worked exclusively from an office should begin to mentally prepare for making at least a partial return. Here are ways to ready yourself:

1. Pull your work clothes out from the back of the closet.

It’s time to discover whether the pants or skirts you have not put on for the last 12 months still fit. Did you gain the COVID 10 or slim down on the Peloton? Don’t wait until the morning that you head back to the office to find out if your clothes are office-ready.

To Do: Take a deep breath and try on your work outfits.

2. Brace yourself for the commute.

For many, the work-from-home months provided liberation from the commute to and from work. While some found it led to great leaps in productivity, others found that removing the brackets of arriving and leaving the office obscured their start and stop times. Workdays extended into evenings. Now, those captive commutes to work will resume. Think about how you intend to use the time — will you try to use it productively — catching up on phone calls or listening to podcasts — or will you need to allow yourself to unwind?

To Do: Plan how to best use the time you’ll spend commuting.

3. Brush up on your water cooler banter.

Many have missed the casual conversations at the workplace — sharing stories of weekend escapades or catching up on the latest dating gossip from the singles crowd. Others may stress about having to make small talk or forgetting a new person’s name. Get ready for all the return-to-work greetings and prepare to share over and over again your synopsis of how you coped during your months of quarantine.

To Do: Mentally prepare yourself for your re-entry into in-person office life.

4. Embark on getting the band back together.

While you and your team have shared many months of Zoom or Teams screen time, getting together in person will be momentous. Instead of diving right into the business at hand, plan ahead and do something festive to mark the occasion. Make matching T-shirts. Bring a cake. Prepare a limerick of standout pandemic moments to recite. Yes, you are back to dealing with those workmates with their quirky personalities — but you have to admit it, it is good to see them again in the flesh!

To Do: Think of one or two activities that will serve as “icebreakers” for getting back together again in person.

5. Prepare for possible hot-desking.

Among the many fallouts of the pandemic, corporate office space has been radically reduced. For example, JPMorgan Chase foresees that for every 100 employees, on average, the bank now needs seats for only 60. Dedicated desks may be a thing of the past as companies continue offering remote working — or hybrid — options. With hot-desking, you may need to reserve a desk or take whichever open one is available.

To Do: Pack light. Have laptop-will travel may be the new hybrid office model.

6. Give management a little leeway.

Managers in particular have had it rough through the months-long work-from-home phase. After all, their primary purpose is to promote collaboration among and across teams and to troubleshoot where they find declines in productivity. None of this is easily detected through teleconferencing. If managers appear over-anxious to corral their teams for in-person work, be gentle if pushing back. A compromise may take some time to sort out.

To Do: Stay flexible.

7. Expect a new normal.

Whatever the post-pandemic era brings, it will likely feel much different than the pre-pandemic days. For so many, life’s priorities have experienced a reset. And, depending on how employees perceived their company’s response to safeguarding staff through the pandemic, allegiances to employers may have morphed. Similarly, CEOs and upper management may have had to formulate new goals or restructure former operating procedures to remain solvent. Expect a time of flux and strive to ride out the course changes ahead.

To Do: Recite the mantra, “Change is good,” and keep your chin up. Remember that going back to the office will be as big an adjustment as working from home was.

As the impacts of plastic pollution have received greater attention in recent years, many companies have begun committing to reduce their plastic usage and production. Plastic pollution is such a major issue for many reasons. It doesn’t decompose quickly, there is not sufficient infrastructure to recycle it, and its production often involves oil, natural gas, or coal. Plastic waste usually ends up in landfills and our waterways if it is not incinerated — a process that is harmful to the environment and toxic to nearby communities as well.

Some more ambitious companies, like Grove Collaborative, have gone even further by setting a goal to become completely plastic-free. In Grove Collaborative’s case, the company aims to be plastic-free by 2025 and is already plastic neutral. Grove Collaborative is a leading sustainable household and cleaning goods company that creates products and sells products from other companies through its online store. It also recently began selling a collection of signature cleaning products from Grove Co.’s plastic-free cleaning line at Target stores nationwide. This industry relies heavily on plastic, meaning innovation is key to going plastic-free.

“I’ve had the idea of plastic neutral for a long time,” said Stuart Landesberg, co-founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative (pictured above) and member of the SF Bay YPO Chapter. “I felt like I was just some sort of crazy hippie guy banging pots and pans at the industry like, ‘Hey, we should really be paying attention.’ And now I feel like, ‘oh, you big companies are actually starting to really follow in our footsteps.’ And, on a personal level, when I started the company, I wasn’t thinking, ‘I want to make half a billion dollars or a billion dollars.’ I wanted to change this industry.”

As part of my research of purpose-driven businesses, I spoke with Landesberg to learn about what the company is doing to become plastic-free and what it will take to change the industry as a whole.

What do you think is the key to creating an achievable plastic-free goal for a company?

Having a super close goal, timewise, is key. That’s why we made the ambitious goal for Grove to become 100% plastic-free by 2025. You can’t be shooting for 20 or 50 years because your successor may not continue pursuing the goal. A shorter timeline puts the heat on me, it puts the heat on the whole executive team, and it really makes our goal clear to all of the decision-makers, down to people who started working at Grove yesterday. They all understand that our goal is to change this industry for the better and that plastic is one of the huge problems in the industry.

So say someone has a project on their desk to work on deodorant. You have to think, how should we approach that problem? Do we want to make a deodorant with a recycled plastic case? Do we want to make a deodorant in a single-use aluminum case? What are our first principles? Do we want the ones that have the highest profit margin? Or do we want the ones with the best design? Do we want to copy the market leader? In our case, it’s really clear that we want to be zero plastic. We want as much waste reduction as possible. So, having a clear goal with a close timeline is the second half of the equation for driving real change — the first is you don’t have to accept incremental change. The second being the timeline is short enough that everybody has to work on it every day.

I also think it starts with talent. Any success or growth we’ve had has been because we’ve had a fantastic team. And the only reason we’ve been able to attract this team is our mission. If you believe — which I deeply do — that the companies that will win are the companies that can attract the best talent, and the companies with the best purpose will attract the best talent, then the companies that have the best results will be purpose-driven.

There’s a big generation of people for whom this idea and environmental issues were not as important. I grew up thinking, “Oh man. Climate change and environmental devastation are problems we totally need to solve. And I need to work to solve them every day.” But for someone who grew up during a different time, you probably didn’t grow up with that orientation. Anybody graduating from college now who’s paying attention, they’re interested in solving these issues. So I think the talent advantage is where it all starts. Across industries, organizations that have aligned themselves towards a values-driven approach to the future will outperform others in their industry.

Could you share some examples of partnerships you have made in your efforts to become plastic-free?

One person I work closely with is Joey Bergstein, the CEO of Seventh Generation. One of the amazing things about working in our space is it is collaborative because people genuinely care. I’ve known Joey for a decade now, and he wants to do the right thing. Joey is a fantastic collaborator. And it’s not just Joey. We have great relationships across the space because people genuinely want to do right.
.
One of the other great things is that we have a stake in the ground since we’ve stated where we believe the industry is going, so players and partners will bring us their zero plastic innovation ideas. We get them data that they can’t possibly get anywhere else, and they can watch the data with us first. We’ll feed them back data about what consumers like and what consumers didn’t like, which allows them to drive faster innovation than they would otherwise be able to drive.

In addition to our combination of packaging and ingredient advocacy, our direct-to-consumer business model allows for faster innovation than has ever been possible in this space before. The amount of data that I have at my fingertips massively differentiates from what even the biggest consumer packaged goods (CPG) executive has because of the direct relationships with the consumer. If I want to take a product to market, I can get that product to market in a day on my site. We will launch 100 plus products this year.

The ability to iterate and innovate with a low cost of failure and a super quick feedback cycle in a way that’s just never been present in the CPG space is huge. Typically in the CPG space, you go incrementally, where you learn, you double down, you learn a little more, and you double down again. But the pace of learning in a direct-to-consumer environment is so accelerated. I view the combination of low cost of failure and fast iteration speed as a little bit of the secret sauce to why we’ll succeed in creating products that people really love. It allows us to outcompete traditional CPG firms which don’t have that speed or data.

In that way, Grove benefits because we get the zero plastic products first, and we get to see their innovation, which feeds our own innovation. So it’s great for our consumers and Seventh Generation or whoever the partner is. You get to help push their roadmap.

But I think the thing that’s been most surprising to me is that since we went plastic neutral by partnering with a couple of smaller companies, the larger companies that bring in are starting to go plastic neutral. There have been giant companies that just announced these initiatives.

We have a lot of changing left to do, but I am totally blown away when I see giant companies copy us. It’s just an amazing feeling. I feel so lucky to have my job. I love my job. And I really feel like we’re lucky to have the wind at our back in terms of the way the industry is moving.

How do you ensure that the innovative, plastic-free products you are selling from other companies through your site meet your sustainability standards and are compelling products?

I think efficacy has to come first from the consumer perspective. And I think one of the big challenges in the natural products category is that people have a perception that the product doesn’t work. So we hold ourselves to the same bar as the highest performing conventional brands and products. How do we do that? The same way we do anything else: good people, clear goals, good data. That’s how it happens: people, culture, data. And that’s how innovation gets created.

But I do think there are companies that have been willing to compromise on efficacy for the sake of sustainability or product innovation. I view that as very short-term thinking because you may be able to get a consumer to try a sustainable format with some hook or nifty design, but if the product doesn’t work, they’re going back to the conventional option. The company might have gotten one purchase, but will the customer make a second purchase if the performance is not there. That’s why we’ve always been focused on top-tier efficacy since the very, very beginning. It all starts with products that consumers love, and it can’t just be because the products have zero waste. It has to be a product that performs to the absolute highest standard while also not being harmful to the person or the environment.

One exciting thing happening right now in our industry that I think is creating momentum for Grove and the sustainable CPG space is that natural chemistry is catching up to conventional product chemistry. Our laundry detergent pods perform just as well as the leading brand. Our dish soaps perform as well as the leading brand.

Natural chemistry has really caught up from an efficacy perspective. At the same time, there’s a super visible transition away from wasteful packaging, so people are trying the category again or for the first time, and they’re staying because the product really performs. I think that the natural products industry — and really companies like Grove that are on the leading edge of sustainability and high-performance plant-based products — are the ones that will win. We may not always win the PR game, but we’ll win in the long term because it’s all about creating products that customers love and will buy again and again.

Culture should be the cornerstone of every company. Every business owner should know this by now, but many don’t realize what exactly culture should be (it goes beyond just pizza parties and paid lunches) and why it’s so crucial to the success of their companies. 

The title of this article should read as an obvious statement. It’s a statement that most business owners would never disagree with. Yet it’s frequently the last thing they focus on, which can be an enormous mistake. One can create the ‘right’ company from a purely business perspective. Still, if the culture doesn’t flourish along with the business talent who helped create it, its success won’t stay for long, and operations will suffer.

When I founded Ashcroft Capital, a real estate investment firm that acquires and improves large multifamily communities in top U.S. metros, I knew culture needed to be a strong focus. When Birchstone Residential, our own property management company, and Birchstone Construction, our in-house construction arm, were founded, it was equally important to recognize and cultivate the individuality of each company. While these three companies are connected, they are uniquely different and required great attention to ensuring we were creating the right culture for each – essentially from scratch. Today, our companies are built with more than 200 team members who thrive on each organization’s unique culture.

Of course, the knowledge and leadership experience you’ve acquired over the years will influence every new business you’re part of, but you can’t simply copy and paste. What worked for one company won’t necessarily work for another. So, as I thought about what I wanted Birchstone Residential to evolve into, how I wanted it to stand out from the competition, it was obvious: culture. Multifamily is an interesting industry where there are various customers – your investors, your residents, and your teams. I knew the cornerstone to effectively connect with and service all three audiences was through our culture. 

Culture has become somewhat of a buzzword – with many companies taking a passive approach to culture. They might believe it’s not something they can control, so they sometimes neglect it and think it will work itself out. Like HubSpot Chief People Officer, Katie Burke, says: “When it comes to culture, most companies have a can’t-do attitude.”

But leaving your culture up to chance is destructive not only to your employees and your clients but also to your organization. Culture isn’t just pizza parties or paid lunches; it isn’t a strategy document created with good intentions that never gets looked at again. Culture is the way a company lives and breathes. To nurture culture, leaders must commit to intentional, distinct, and purposeful initiatives. 

Birchstone Residential’s mission is simple: We are people serving people.

And here is why we believe that culture is so important:

Strengthening Loyalty

If your teams dread coming into work, you have a problem. Disengaged employees don’t value their work, nor do they find much purpose in collaborating with other team members to improve operational efficiency and client service. And professional development? It’s futile if employees don’t feel united with the business.

It’s all about connectedness. Our team laughs hard together, they work better together, and collaboration soars. They’ve become a very tight-knit group and consider themselves family (their words, not mine). They tackle challenges and accomplish goals together because they push each other to go the extra mile. They know they have a support system behind them to help them through the challenges and celebrate their wins together. 

Employees want to feel like they are contributing to something that’s larger than themselves. Jim Goodnight, co-founder and CEO of SAS, wrote on his company’s website: “Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will.” I couldn’t agree more. 

Happy employees are 45 percent more productive than team members who are just ‘satisfied’ in their careers. This means that more work will get done, which will also enhance your client service efforts.

Happy employees, happy customers. 

Service Above Self

Clients won’t be able to love a company unless its employees love it first. When you establish a culture-based company that empowers and develops high-performing employees, then, and only then, can that passion extend to your customers. 

Hiring exceptional employees is an investment, and you want to be sure you’re investing the time and resources into the right people. We equip and empower our team with the resources and opportunities that will allow them to succeed with confidence. If they discover an internal or client-facing issue, they know they have the insight and expertise to resolve it. If they see an opportunity to accelerate our success, they have the assurance to bring it to our attention. 

But providing the best service doesn’t just depend on a person’s professional development, it’s also contingent upon how leaders chose to invest in their wellbeing as well. 

Curating Your Brand Identity

Your culture is the life force of your company. It’s what makes you unique and sets you apart from competitors in your industry. 

If you boast authenticity, breathing that into your culture will show your clients that you are unique. The more your clients identify and connect with your brand, the more they’ll want to interact with you and advocate for you. You can only curate this relationship through your employees. But remember, you cannot do this through one person alone. It takes executive oversight, intention, purpose, and committed participation from everyone at the company. 

We promised our clients and community that we are — and always will be — sincere, genuine, honest, and transparent. Our culture is the glue that keeps our organization together, and our clients are the ones that stand to benefit from such an engaged workforce. 

You need to build a community within your business that people want to be a part of. That’s making culture the cornerstone of your community. 

New data commissioned by GFI and PBFA shows U.S. sales of plant-based meat, dairy, and eggs have outpaced conventional animal products’ sales for the third consecutive year.

New data released by the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA) and The Good Food Institute (GFI) shows that U.S. retail sales of plant-based foods continued to increase by double digits in 2020, growing 27%, bringing the total plant-based market value to $7 billion. This growth in dollar sales (“sales”) was consistent across the nation, with more than 25% growth in every U.S. census region. The plant-based food market grew almost twice as fast as the total U.S. retail food market, which increased 15% in 2020 as Covid-19 shuttered restaurants and consumers stocked up on food amid lockdowns. Fifty-seven percent of households now purchase plant-based foods, up from 53% in 2019. GFI and PBFA commissioned the data from SPINS and custom refined the data to reflect only plant-based products that directly replace animal-based products.

The value of plant-based meat — the second-largest plant-based category — hit $1.4 billion in 2020, with sales growing 45%, up from $962 million in 2019. The plant-based meat category grew twice as fast as conventional meat and now accounts for 2.7% of retail packaged meat sales. Eighteen percent of U.S. households now purchase plant-based meat, up from 14% in 2019. Consumers are coming back for more — 63% of shoppers are high-repeat customers. Refrigerated plant-based meat sales grew 75% in 2020, with products increasingly shelved adjacent to conventional meat. This placement in the meat section helped propel growth in the segment, with refrigerated plant-based meat sales increasing more than twice as fast as frozen plant-based meat sales, which grew 30% in 2020 — 10 times faster than in 2019.

“The data tells us unequivocally that we are experiencing a fundamental shift as an ever-growing number of consumers are choosing foods that taste good and boost their health by incorporating plant-based foods into their diet,” says PBFA Senior Director of Retail Partnerships Julie Emmett.

Plant-based milk — the largest plant-based category — has reached $2.5 billion and accounts for 35% of the total plant-based food market. Even as the most developed category, plant-based milk grew 20% in dollar sales, up from 5% in 2019. Plant-based milk grew twice as fast as cow’s milk and is now purchased by 39% of U.S. households. Almond milk remains the category leader and accounts for about 2/3 of plant-based milk dollar sales. Oat milk catapulted to the second-leading segment, ahead of soy milk, with sales more than tripling in 2020 and growing 25-fold since 2018. Plant-based product share of all conventional categories is increasing, with plant-based milk now making up 15% of the milk category, plant-based butter making up 7% of the butter category, and plant-based creamer making up 6% of the creamer category. While plant-based milk boasts a significant share of milk sales in all stores at 15%, it constitutes an even greater share of milk sales in natural food stores at 45%.

Plant-based milk’s success has laid the groundwork for major increases in sales of other plant-based dairy products, which are collectively approaching $2 billion. Across the store, plant-based food dollar sales are growing faster than those of many conventional animal products. In 2020, plant-based yogurt grew 20%, almost seven times the rate of conventional yogurt; plant-based cheese grew 42%, almost twice the rate of conventional cheese; and plant-based eggs grew 168%, almost 10 times the rate of conventional eggs. The plant-based egg category grew more than 700% from 2018, 100 times the rate of conventional eggs.

“The plant-based category has evolved to the point that retailers can’t limit who they consider the plant-based shopper,” says SPINS Head of Retail Dawn Valandingham. “They should now assume everyone is a potential plant-based buyer and educate them enough to see the possibilities. Between the innovation in plant-based products and the gradual return to less restrictive shopping measures, 2021 offers many opportunities for retailers to appeal to more customers and expand their plant-based offerings.”

Covid-19 gave retail sales of plant-based foods an extra boost when interest in the sector was already surging, driven by a focus among consumers on personal health, sustainability, food safety, and animal welfare. These factors will continue to propel consumption of plant-based foods far into the future. According to Mintel, 35% of U.S. consumers agree with the statement “the Covid-19/coronavirus pandemic proves that humans need to eat fewer animals.” The market has responded by meeting consumer interests with plant-based claims on-pack rising 116% among U.S. food and drink introductions between 2018 and 2020.