<\/a>Rebellyous founder Christie Lagally started her company two years ago. It focuses on plant-based chicken nuggets and breaded chicken products. It’s based out of a West Seattle factory. Aaron Kunkler\/staff photo<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The company produces about 20,000 pounds of product a month. The company could make more, and hopes to, once it perfects the machinery. Most of the machinery is off-the-shelf machines designed for meat. Part of the company’s goal is to make machinery specifically for plant-based meat production and license them out.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
And scaling up might be a smart move as the sale of plant-based foods has jettisoned upwards in recent years. The Good Food Institute<\/a> (GFI), which tracks companies that make animal-product alternatives, said grocery sales of plant-based foods that replaced animal products grew 31% between 2017 and 2019, reaching $4.5 billion.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t That was big news for Caroline Bushnell, an associate director for the Good Food Institute.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “It felt like a tipping point where it really went mainstream,” she said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Milk remains the industry behemoth, but other products are working their way into grocery stores too. Outlets like Safeway and Albertsons have started placing plant-based meats in the refrigerated meat section, a move Bushnell said the non-dairy milk industry pulled off successfully.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Then there are success stories like the Impossible Burger, which landed in Burger King stores last year. Or local staples like Field Roast which makes vegan meats, Almande which makes yogurt and NutPod which makes creamers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Rebellyous is a relative newcomer to the local production scene, starting two years ago. Another newcomer is the Bellevue-based Good Planet Foods, which specializes in plant-based cheese.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t David Israel is the company’s founder and CEO and said he sees much room for growth in dairy. He thinks the plant-based cheese market has the potential to skyrocket in coming years, and hopes to fill a customer demand for it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “It’s actually — we think — even a bigger category than meat, because we’re selling into major (consumer packaged goods), global companies,” Israel said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t According to GFI data, in 2019 plant-based dairy, not including milk, was a $1.2 billion industry. Its counterpart meat sector brought in more than $800 million. Milk totaled more than $1.85 billion in sales.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t However, plant-based foods are still dwarfed by animal agriculture products in terms of market shares. Plant-based meats accounted for only 2% of all meat sales revenue in 2019. Even plant-based milk commanded only 13%.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t But both Bushnell and Lagally said they expect those percentages to increase as younger consumers, especially Millenials and Zoomers, buy more. Health concerns and climate change are two of the biggest concerns she hears, Lagally said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We have a real fantastic opportunity to do something about it,” she said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t