Veganism has been growing in popularity over the last few years.
In a recent study carried out in the US, the Statista Global Consumer Survey found that about five per cent of respondents were vegans.
Countries in which veganism is on the increase include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Sweden and Estonia to name but a few. There are also many more vegetarians in the world. Around 40 per cent of the population of India, for example, identify themselves as vegans or vegetarians (which include ovo-lactovegetarians and pescatarians).
As a result, the worldwide vegan food sales have experienced a boom in sales from $14.5 billion in 2020 to $15.8 billion in the following year and this is expected to continue to increase over the coming years.
Elimination of meat and substitution with high-protein vegetable foodstuffs, together with vegan milk consumption in preference to animal milk, health concerns and weight management are some of the main reasons for this shift in dietary preferences. Worldwide consumption of meat substitutes has increased from 133 million to 470 million kilograms between 2013 and 2020.
Worldwide consumption of meat substitutes has increased from 133 million to 470 million kilograms between 2013 and 2020
As a consequence, the food industry has had to shift its focus from ‘farm to fork’ to meet these increasing demands. Food products, ingredients and manufacturing processes have seen alterations to better cater to this augmented consumption. New food products have meant that manufacturing industries have had to invest in new equipment which is automated to meet the growing food production demands.
The EQVEGAN project, funded by the European Commission as part of the Key Action 2 projects, intends to offer innovative training to professionals and students involved in the food technology sector to enable an upskilling and conversion of skills according to the market needs to accelerate the qualified growth of this sector.
MCAST is one of the partners in this project and will be offering modules in green skills, plant-based technology, digital skills and automation to assist the local food industry with the skills gaps created by the sector-specific labour market needs.
More information can be found on the project’s website.
Kenny Muscat is a lecturer at MCAST and is managing the EQVEGAN project on behalf of the college. One may contact him via e-mail at Kenny.muscat.edu.mt.