Consumers' preferences for plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products vary between restaurant meals and grocery purchases, according to research from the NPD Group. Consumption of plant-based dairy alternatives is largely centered around the home, while demand for plant-based burgers and other meat alternatives is growing at restaurants, and many including White Castle and Burger King now offer plant-based burgers on the menu.

PepsiCo and Beyond Meat have teamed up to create the PLANeT Partnership, an entity dedicated to selling plant-based drinks and food. The new venture looks to build on the growing momentum in the plant-based category by combining PepsiCo's marketing and commercial strength with Beyond Meat's innovations in developing plant-based protein products.

McDonald's is developing a plant-based burger called McPlant that it plans to test in some global markets in 2021, and the meat alternative could be used in the future to develop other plant-based menu items, said Ian Borden, the company's international president. In Canada, McDonald's previously tested a plant-based patty from Beyond Meat, which said it created a burger for McPlant products.

Albertsons has introduced 55 new entries to its frozen private-brand lineup. Some products, which range from power bowls to plant-based meat crumbles, carry the Plant Based Foods Association's "Certified Plant Based" seal, and all are USDA-certified organic.

Coca-Cola launched a line of bottles made with plant-based materials on Monday, a move that will significantly reduce the amount of plastic used in their products. The new PlantBottles blend as much as 30% plant-based materials derived from sugar cane and molasses with conventional petroleum-based materials. The bottles will first appear in West Coast cities, Denmark and Western Canada, though the company aims to move to worldwide distribution and, eventually, bottles made entirely of plant-based materials.