Signal EU Plant-Based Coalition Launches €3 Billion Food Innovation Agenda 2026–2035

Summary

A coalition led by Plant-Based Foods Europe, the European Alliance for Plant-Based Foods, the European Vegetable Protein Association and the FoodConNext Foundation launched "The Plant-Based Opportunity – European Innovation Investment Budget: Plant-Based Foods & Proteins 2026-2035" in February 2026. The plan calls for €3 billion across 75 projects in seven innovation pillars, a threefold increase over the roughly €400 million invested in EU plant-based R&I between 2020 and 2024. Budget pillars include Sustainable Products & Circular Bioeconomy (€995 million), Consumer Engagement & Food Environments (€720 million), Health & Nutrition (€455 million), and Supply Chains & Ecosystems (€360 million), with roughly 40% going to consumer engagement/health, 40% to sustainable products/crops, and 20% to roadmaps and harmonization. The coalition, which includes more than 130 organizations such as Greenpeace, Compassion in World Farming and the European Consumer Organisation, frames the push partly around the €900 billion in annual public-health costs linked to poor diets. It cites the US and China scaling plant-based innovation quickly as a competitiveness concern for Europe. The private coalition's agenda is separate from the European Commission's own protein strategy, which targets raising EU-grown protein crops from 25.8% to 35% of feed protein by 2035.