The plant-based meat substitutes industry has been facing headwinds lately. It has been difficult to convince mainstream consumers to adopt the product, and sales are declining, after a spike during the pandemic. Marketers have increasingly been looking to partnerships with licensed entertainment and character properties to raise awareness with a wider audience; increase trial, especially among children; and, in some cases, reinforce their brand attributes using the personalities or other characteristics of the properties:
- In October 2024, Impossible Foods, which had been supplying plant-based foods to Disney theme parks and other businesses for four years, introduced co-branded nuggets tied to Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. The product consisted of traditional-recipe Impossible Chicken Nuggets in the shape of Lion King characters.
- In January 2024, Alpha Foods partnered with Aardman Animations’ film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, which was available globally on Netflix, for a limited-edition version of Fry’s Plant-Based Nuggets. Featuring a special recipe and packaging, the nuggets debuted at retail stores across the U.S. last March.
- Also in January 2024, Franklin Farms, a division of Keystone Natural Holdings, launched Mickey Mouse & Friends packaging for six of its plant-based foods, including classic and barbecue veggie burgers, Moroccan-style falafel balls, Cuban-style black bean and plaintain balls, and lemon-pepper and teriyaki tofu bites, available at supermarkets in the northeastern U.S.
- In June 2023, Akua teamed with Paramount and Nickelodeon for SpongeBob slider-sized kelp patties, in original and BBQ varieties. The product was introduced in select U.S. retailers as well as at PLNT Burger restaurant locations on the East Coast. The partnership fit with Nickelodeon’s Operation Sea Change ocean sustainability initiative.
- In June 2022, Lightlife Foods, a brand of Maple Leaf Foods’ Greenleaf Foods subsidiary, paired with Disney and Pixar to promote the film Lightyear. As part of the tie-in, several of the company’s products, including Lightlife Smart Dogs and Smart Bacon, original tempeh, plant-based burgers, breakfast patties, and breakfast links, featured Lightyear-themed packaging. The line was available at Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Target, Albertsons, and other retailers.
- Skinny Butcher, launched by Golden West Food Group, Garden Fresh Gourmet, and Wow Bao in 2022, released Stranger Things vegan nuggets at Walmart stores in the U.S. in May of that year. The Stranger Things Crazy Crispy Chick’n Nuggets, made from pea protein without soy or palm oil, were released in the lead-up to the fourth season of the Netflix show. The property captured the “out of this world” taste of the product, executives said.
- Back in September 2020—when plant-based meats were just starting a relatively short-lived period of growth—MorningStar Farms’ Incogmeato brand paired with Disney for Mickey Mouse-shaped vegan Chik’n Nuggets made of non-GMO soy. Walmart was among the retailers selling the product in the U.S.
As noted, the industry as a whole has been contracting for a few years. According to the Good Food Institute’s State of the Industry report, released in April 2024, sales declined slightly from $8.2 billion in 2022 to $8.1 billion in 2023. In addition, only 15% of U.S. households purchased plant-based meat and seafood substitutes in 2023, compared to 19% in 2022. As a result of these trends, which have continued into 2024 and now 2025, Beyond Meat recently announced it was cutting 6% of its workforce and shutting its operations in China, while Unilever is looking to sell off its Vegetarian Butcher business, to name two examples of companies’ changing strategies in the sector.
Collaborations with character/entertainment IP are unlikely to turn the industry around, but they are one tool marketers of plant-based meats have at their disposal to help reverse the current trends.
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