Plant-Forward Foods Bringing New Choices to the Table
Brand: Actual Veggies
Can everyday meals become more plant-forward while still delivering the flavors and textures people love?
That question continues to drive innovation across the food industry.
From vegetable-based burgers to plant-based chicken, seafood alternatives and dairy-free creamers, companies are exploring new ways to bring lighter-footprint foods to consumers without sacrificing taste or convenience. Many of these products focus on simple ingredients, familiar formats and improved nutrition while also reducing the environmental impact associated with traditional animal agriculture.
Brand: Daring
At Seeing Green, we’re always interested in how the plant-forward food category continues to evolve. During our recent visit to Expo West, one of the largest gatherings of natural and organic food companies, we stopped by a number of booths showcasing the latest ideas in plant-based foods and alternative proteins.
Some brands are reinventing familiar staples like burgers and sausages, while others are expanding into categories like seafood, dips and dairy alternatives. Together they show how plant-forward eating is becoming less about strict labels and more about giving consumers new options that feel both satisfying and more sustainable.
Brand: Fabalish
Continue below (and check out the video) for a few of the companies we encountered on the show floor. Each is bringing its own approach to creating foods that can help make everyday meals a little greener.
Here are a few worth exploring:
Actual Veggies: Actual Veggies creates colorful veggie burgers made from real vegetables and grains, focusing on whole ingredients rather than trying to mimic traditional meat.
Califia Farms: Califia Farms creates popular plant-based dairy alternatives such as oat and almond creamers, helping coffee drinkers make simple plant-forward swaps in everyday routines.
Daring: Daring produces plant-based chicken made from simple ingredients that aim to recreate the taste and texture of chicken in a versatile, protein-rich format.
Fabalish: Fabalish crafts plant-based dips, spreads and falafel built around chickpeas and other simple ingredients that bring bold flavor to snacks and meals.
Field Roast: Field Roast creates flavorful plant-based sausages and deli slices using grains, vegetables and spices to deliver hearty, chef-inspired meat alternatives.
Gardein: Gardein is known for plant-based comfort foods like nuggets, tenders and meatless entrées that bring classic flavors to the plant-based aisle.
Lightlife: Lightlife offers a range of plant-based meats including hot dogs, sausages and deli slices designed to help familiar meals transition easily into plant-forward options.
Ocean’s Halo: Ocean’s Halo produces organic seaweed snacks, noodles, broths and Asian-inspired pantry staples that highlight seaweed as a nutritious and sustainable ingredient.
Oshi: Oshi is developing plant-based seafood alternatives, including salmon-style fillets designed to replicate the taste and experience of fish while reducing pressure on ocean ecosystems.
Violife: Violife specializes in dairy-free cheeses made from plant ingredients that melt, slice and spread in ways familiar to traditional cheese lovers.