Future of the Industry 2024: Balanced Proteins
World’s first publicly-available sensory analysis of 22 balanced (blended) protein products across 9 categories with 1,192 omnivores.
NECTAR’s inaugural Future of the Industry publication represents the world’s largest sensory analysis of balanced (“blended”) proteins and dives deep into:
Categorical & competitive insights
Consumer satisfaction
R&D opportunities
Go-to-market strategy
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Report Update: May 2025
When NECTAR first launched the Future of the Industry 2024 report, we set out to benchmark what success looks like for Balanced Proteins–a new class of meat products that combine animal meat with plant-based protein or whole-cut vegetables.
This month, we’ve re-released the report with an updated awards framework to showcase which balanced products are meeting these new taste standards compared to conventional meat. See below for the updated awards framework and the winning brands:
Taste Superiority: Balanced protein is preferred over animal
Taste Parity: Balanced protein is equal in preference to animal benchmark
Ready for Mainstream Adoption: Balanced protein is rated the same or better than the animal benchmark by at least 50% of tasters
Taste Superiority
Taste Parity
Ready for
Mainstream Adoption
Balanced Proteins: Category Deep Dives
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Burger
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Hot Dog
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Steak
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Pork Sausage
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Beef/Pork Meatball
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Chicken Sausage
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Chicken Meatball
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Chicken Nugget
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Unbreaded Chicken Patty
Fable Foods
Winning Product: Shiitake Infused Beef
Award Year: 2024 Winner
Fable Foods is a mushroom company, originally from Australia, that produces a range of center of the plate proteins from shiitake mushrooms.
Fable won a 2024 TASTY Award for their shiitake infused beef, one of only two balanced protein burgers to outperform 100% beef in NECTAR's Balanced Protein (North America) study. Over the past two years, the brand has leveraged their award to scale sales and marketing globally.
The Result?
+$1M
of expected revenue to the brand's sales pipeline
Webinar
“NECTAR’s research has given us consumer proof points about the Balanced Proteins category that we've leveraged to tell a more compelling sales story & secure conversations with some of the country's largest foodservice operators.”
— Andrew Arentowicz, CEO, 50/50 Foods
