Europe Alternative Protein Market size for Animal Feed crossed USD 550 million in 2019 and is expected to gather considerable gains of over 7% between 2020 and 2026.

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Alternative proteins are proteins derived from sources other than meat and dairy products. Alternative proteins for animal feed generally comprise of protein supplements derived from insect, soy, duckweed, grain, fungal, yeast, algae, and hamlet. In addition, alternative proteins can also be derived from sunflower, groundnuts, and pea. Soy based proteins has been one of the most popular alternative protein for animal feed applications. Plant based proteins for animal feed can constitute more protein than animal derived proteins. Furthermore, seeds and crops developed using genetic modification techniques have potential to offer numerous benefits in animal nutrition.

European Market, By Product

Soy protein isolate is a rich source of protein, containing about a minimum 90% protein, hence is mainly utilized in animal feed applications where nutritional value of animal diets is important. The demand for high protein animal feed has increased, owing to increasing emphasize on enhancing overall health performance of muscles, ligaments, heart, cartilage, and skin of animals. In addition, growing livestock production in European countries has bolstered consumption of animal feed in the region.

There has been continuous increase in the consumption of meat in European countries, owing to rising number of restaurants, hotels, and fast-food service providers. Therefore, this led to increase in the animal production activities in Europe region, and drive the demand for animal feed and feed supplements and additives.

The feed production in Europe has increased to nearly 164 million tons in 2018, an increase by nearly 1.8% compared to feed production in 2017. This growth is attributable to rising production of chickens, cattle, and pigs, this growth in the animal feed industry.

European Market, By Livestock

Based on livestock, the poultry segment dominated the Europe alternative protein market size for animal feed was over USD 250 million revenue in 2019. Protein is an important nutrient in poultry feed and plays a vital role in overall chicken health, which affects egg production, chicken weight, immunity, and other biological characteristics. Therefore, this multiple benefits of the product to chicken led to fuel its market growth. In addition, the demand for alternative protein products has increased, owing to greater emphasize on reducing the overall feed costs.

The utilization of alternative proteins in poultry feed has also increased pertaining to growth in the practice of sustainable agriculture. henceforth, these trends should trigger the demand for alternative protein in the poultry feed applications.

Depending upon livestock, the pet food category is projected to register exponential growth at a CAGR over 6% CAGR from 2020 to 2026. The pet food industry has experienced significant growth owing to rising trend of pet adoption and growing humanization of pets. High cost of meat-based proteins for pet food may influence consumers to opt for various alternatives protein supplements. Growing consumer awareness regarding pet health and nutritional value of pet diets driven by changing lifestyle should stimulate the alternative protein for pet foods market.

Competitive Industry Landscape

The European alternative protein industry share for animal feed is significantly competitive with major players including Cargill Incorporated, Archer Daniel Midland Group, Nordic Soya, Deep Branch Biotechnology, The Scoular Company, DuPont De Nemours, Calysta Inc, Darlington Ingredients, Hamlet Protein A/S, Imcopa Food Ingredients B.V., Agriprotein Gmbh, and Innovafeed. Players in the market are adapting various strategies to improvise their offering including new product launch for instance, in 2018, ADM Animal Nutrition, a business segment of Archer Daniels Midland Company, launched yeast protein for dogs and cats for offering nutritional values in pet food.