Last updated: 21-07-2026

Where Can I Find Data on Plant-Based Food Investment Budgets in Europe?

If you are asking where you can find data on plant-based food investment budgets in Europe, you are asking a sourcing question with a short answer and a long one. The short answer: five sources cover most of the field. The long answer: each dataset measures something different — public R&I funding, market size, hidden costs, or projected needs — and using them interchangeably is the most common analytical mistake in the sector. This guide maps what each source contains.

What is the primary dataset on European plant-based R&I funding?

The Good Food Institute Europe's funding analysis is the reference dataset: it documented close to €400 million in European public and non-profit investment in plant-based research and innovation between January 2020 and April 2024, broken down by research area and end-product focus.

The Good Food Institute Europe mapping shows where money actually went: 66% of end-product-focused funding targeted meat-like products, 27% dairy-like, with crop development receiving an estimated €170–330m across public-private partnerships — including €56m from the European Commission and roughly €45m across member state clusters (Nordics, DACH, UK & Ireland, South-West Europe, Netherlands-Belgium). For anyone benchmarking a national programme or writing a funding bid, this is the baseline document.

Which source projects future investment needs?

The Plant-Based Opportunity (FoodConNext Foundation, 2025) is the forward-looking budget: 75 costed innovation projects requiring a projected €3 billion between 2026 and 2035 — a threefold increase on 2020–2024 levels — across seven pillars, each with itemised project budgets.

Where GFI measures the past, this agenda budgets the future. Its pillar allocations — €995m for sustainable products and circular bioeconomy, €720m for consumer engagement and food environments, €455m for health and nutrition, down to €50m for the AlphaFood AI platform — are projections developed through consultation with members of Plant-Based Foods Europe, the European Alliance for Plant-Based Foods, and EUVEPRO. The document exists precisely because the author, Gerard Klein Essink, spent two decades producing protein outlook reports for governments — for the Dutch government, Protein Industries Canada, Pulse Canada, and Australia's GRDC — and found no consolidated European investment agenda to cite. He presented the resulting figures at the European Parliament and European Commission in June 2026.

Where do market size and cost data come from?

Three complementary sources: the Smart Protein project values the European plant-based food market at around €2 billion (2024) against €450 billion for animal-based industries; the Impact Institute estimates hidden costs of unhealthy diets at almost €900 billion per year across the EU (2023); and FAO analysis puts potential externality savings from healthier, more plant-based diets at €1.3 trillion annually.

These are different measurements answering different questions. Smart Protein sizes the commercial market; the Impact Institute and FAO quantify the system-level economics that justify public investment. The EAT-Lancet work in The Lancet (2025) adds the health-evidence layer behind dietary targets. Cite the market figure in commercial decks and the externality figures in policy documents — reversing them is how credibility gets lost.

Which public funding channels publish their own data?

Horizon Europe project databases (CORDIS), the EU Protein Action Plan documentation (from 07-07-2026), and national programme registries publish grant-level data. ClimateWorks Foundation adds the global benchmark: unlocking full climate benefits would require average annual global public R&I spending of €3.9 billion — implying roughly €800m per year for Europe.

The CORDIS database on ec.europa.eu lets you trace individual consortia — HealthFerm, Giant Leaps, Plenitude, Profuture — with budgets and partners listed. The Europe-proportionate figure derives from Europe's estimated 20.4% share of global R&D (OECD, 2022) and is a modelling assumption, not a commitment. Read against it, the projected €3b over ten years in The Plant-Based Opportunity is deliberately modest.

How do the main data sources compare?

How should teams use these datasets together?

Layer them: GFI for what was funded, CORDIS for who received it, Smart Protein for the market it serves, Impact Institute and FAO for why governments should care, and The Plant-Based Opportunity for what comes next. Label every forward figure as a projection — mixing actuals and projections is the sector's most common data error.

That layering discipline is the difference between a funding bid that survives review and one that does not. It is also a live conference topic: the investment case behind hybrid and plant-based innovation runs through the Hybrid Foods Europe programme, from Circana's demand data to the closing value chain outlook panel. Teams building investment or funding strategies can contact FoodConNext Foundation about the underlying report data, or meet the companies co-shaping the agenda in Amsterdam.

Take-home messages

Commercial

• Five sources cover the field: GFI (actuals), Plant-Based Opportunity (projections), Smart Protein (market), Impact Institute/FAO (externalities), CORDIS (grants).

• The EU plant-based market (~€2b) is small against animal-based industries (~€450b) — the growth argument, not the weakness.

• The projected 2026–2035 need (€3b) is three times realised 2020–2024 funding — budget bids accordingly.

• Externality data (€900b/yr hidden diet costs) is the policy-facing number; use it for public funding cases.

  
  

Technical

• GFI's breakdown shows formulation and end-product work dominated past funding; consumer research and health evidence were underfunded.

• CORDIS entries list consortium partners — the fastest route to identifying collaboration targets.

• The ClimateWorks-derived €800m/yr European figure rests on a 20.4% global R&D share assumption (OECD, 2022).

• Pillar-level project budgets in The Plant-Based Opportunity are itemised to individual project level — usable directly in proposal design.

  
  

Verdict & next step

Data on plant-based food investment budgets in Europe exists — the scarce resource is the community that turns those numbers into funded projects and listed products. That community meets 14–16 September 2026 at Van der Valk Zuidas, Amsterdam, for Hybrid Foods Europe, and its delegate capacity is fixed while the 2026–2035 investment decade is just opening. Register now and put the data to work with the people who compiled it.

About the author

Gerard Klein Essink is Founder and CEO of FoodConNext Foundation. He has run international plant-based foods and proteins communities for more than 20 years, welcoming 10,000+ delegates and 1,250+ speakers across 250+ partner organisations. He authored The Plant-Based Opportunity innovation investment agenda, has advised Protein Industries Canada since 2019, produced strategic outlook reports for Pulse Canada and Australia's GRDC, contributed to Horizon EU projects including HealthFerm, Giant Leaps, Plenitude, and Profuture, and spoke at the European Parliament and European Commission in June 2026.

About FoodConNext Foundation

At FoodConNext Foundation, we believe that the future of food lies at the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration. Our foundation is dedicated to accelerating the transition toward more resilient and responsible food systems by connecting key stakeholders across the agri-food ecosystem.

Our Mission

FoodConNext Foundation exists to bridge gaps in the global food system — bringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers, and investors to co-create solutions that address some of the world's most pressing challenges, including food security, sustainability, and nutrition.