Plant-Based Foods Europe
Plant-Based Foods Europe represents European producers of plant-based alternatives to dairy and meat, including drinks (based on soy, rice, oats, almond, etc.), alternatives to other dairy products (alternatives to yogurt, desserts, creams, ice creams, margarine, cheese) and meat alternatives (tofu, tempeh, seitan, burgers, ready meals etc).
ID: 689045810852-79
Lobbying Activity
Response to Modification of rules on organic trade and simplification
18 Nov 2025
Plant-Based Foods Europe welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the targeted amendments to the EU Organic Production rules. Through the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the Commission acknowledges the organic sector as a cornerstone of a sustainable, resilient and competitive European food system. This recognition is especially relevant to the plant-based food industry, for which the organic segment holds particular significance. Consumers seeking healthier and more sustainable diets increasingly look for foods that are both plant-based and organic. For example, the organic plant-based beverages, such as soy, almond, rice and other nuts- or cereals-based drinks, represent 20-25% of the total plant-based beverages market in Europe, while organic cows milk accounts for only around 3% of total EU milk production. These figures demonstrate the strong and growing consumer demand for organic plant-based products and underline the importance of ensuring that EU organic rules foster their continued growth and competitiveness. 1. Maintaining international equivalence agreements We strongly support the maintenance and extension of existing equivalence agreements with the 11 non-EU countries whose arrangements are due to expire. Discontinuation of these mutual recognition frameworks would force companies to redesign recipes and undergo separate certification processes for each market, resulting in significant cost increases for compliance and reformulation, administrative burdens linked with the extra paperwork, procedures and compliance tasks to be performed for each market, trade barriers that could reduce consumers access to organic products. 2. Addressing the regulatory loophole on fortified products In light of the Herbaria II Court ruling, it is crucial to close the regulatory loophole that currently allows fortified products, including plant-based products, produced in third countries to be imported and marketed as organic within the EU, even though they do not comply with EU organic rules on fortification. This inconsistency creates an uneven playing field for plant-based producers which are held to strict standards that prohibit fortification of organic products. This also undermines consumer trust, by creating confusion around what an organic label actually guarantees. Simply prohibiting the use of the EU organic logo while allowing a third-country organic logo does not resolve this issue. Consumers are often unaware of the differences between organic certifications and may assume that any product labelled organic -regardless of the logo - meets the same criteria, including rules on fortification. 3. Organic plant-based foods and fortification The question of fortification of organic products is especially relevant for the plant-based sector. Organic plant-based foods often serve as alternative for people who follow vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian diets for ethical, environmental, or health reasons. These consumers expect plant-based foods to provide comparable nutritional value to animal foods. For example, to meet this expectation, organic plant-based beverages have historically been produced using Lithothamnium calcareum, a natural, calcium-rich seaweed. However, this is not sufficient. National dietary guidelines in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland, increasingly recommend fortification of plant-based beverages, not only with calcium but also with other essential nutrients. Current rules, however, create an unintended imbalance between sectors. While organic plant-based products are prohibited from fortification, animal-based products can indirectly benefit from mineral supplementation in feed, which ultimately enhances their nutritional profile. To maintain consumer trust and ensure fairness, organic standards should be applied consistently across all categories.
Read full responseResponse to EU cardiovascular health plan
16 Sept 2025
Plant-Based Foods Europe, the organisation representing plant-based food manufacturers in Europe, welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the upcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan. Prevention, including the promotion of healthy diets, can play a valuable role in supporting cardiovascular health. Moving towards more balanced and sustainable eating patterns may contribute to lowering the risk of cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases. The EU has previously recognised the importance of diet, including plant-based, in disease prevention in the EU Beating Cancer Plan. The forthcoming Plan should similarly consider healthy and sustainable diets as an integral part of prevention strategies. Evidence from clinical, epidemiological, and intervention studies highlights the cardiovascular benefits of plant-based diets, including processed plant-based foods. Shifting towards plant-based options improves cardiometabolic health, with vegetarian and vegan diets shown to reduce key cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, elevated LDL cholesterol, and higher BMI. For example, one trial found that replacing an average of 2.5 daily servings of meat with plant-based alternatives for eight weeks lowered key cardiovascular risk markers. Similarly, replacing cows milk with plant-based milk, richer in unsaturated fats and lower in saturated fat, may improve blood lipids, blood pressure, and inflammation. Prevention through diet is also cost-effective. The four major NCDs in the EU, cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease, account for at least 25% of healthcare spending. Promoting healthier diets, particularly a shift towards plant-based diets, would reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of life. The EU Cardiovascular Plan presents an important opportunity to place healthy and sustainable diets at the heart of prevention. To achieve this, we strongly recommend that the Plan includes the following measures: Public Procurement and promotion. A revision of the EU Public Procurement rules to prioritise both health and sustainability. Public institutions should lead by example serving healthier, plant-based meals that are also inclusive for people who do not want to or cannot consume animal-based foods. Additionally, integrating fortified plant-based beverages into the EU School Scheme will ensure that children have access to sustainable and nutritious options from an early age. Education and awareness. Introduce EU-wide education programmes, beginning in early childhood education, to raise awareness about the health benefits of sustainable diet. Health promotion campaigns explicitly reference the benefits of plant-based alternatives for cardiovascular prevention, for example in the framework of the EU School Scheme. Fiscal measures to encourage healthier and more sustainable diets, including a fair VAT framework that levels the playing field between plant-based and animal-based products. Clear labelling and consumer information to ensure that consumers receive transparent, accurate, and comparable information about plant-based products.
Read full responseMeeting with Barry Cowen (Member of the European Parliament)
24 Jun 2025 · Meeting with Plant Based Foods Europe
Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives
7 Mar 2025
ENSA, the leading voice of plant-based foods industry in Europe, has rebranded as Plant-Based Foods Europe. This transformation marks a significant milestone in our ongoing mission to advocate for sustainable, healthy and innovative plant-based food solutions across Europe. --- Plant-Based Foods Europe, representing the European plant-based foods industry, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the evaluation of the public procurement directives. As the largest manufacturing industry in the EU, providing jobs and exporting the healthiest and highest-quality food in the world, the European agri-food sector is a key asset for Europe. To maintain its competitiveness, it should be made a strategic sector in public procurement. Focusing on healthy and sustainable diets, especially through plant-based foods, is crucial for the European agri-food sector's long-term success. Public procurement plays a key role in shaping sustainable practices and promoting healthy lifestyles. As demonstrated by various member states, prioritising plant-based foods in public procurement policies can effectively address environmental, health, and economic challenges. Plant-based foods in public procurement Public procurement legislation can facilitate access to nutritious and sustainable food in various public spaces, including in environments that shape dietary habits, like schools. The recent Joint Research Centre reports on sustainable procurement criteria stress the positive impact of mainstreaming plant-based criteria in food public tenders across EU member states, supporting reduced chronic diseases and healthcare costs. Plant-based foods are associated with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduced land and water use, and decreased prevalence of non-communicable diseases including a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, as well as diabetes and certain cancers. These diseases are the leading cause of illness and death globally and are very costly for the individual as well as for the society in both high and low-middle income countries. Plant-based diets, including fortified plant-based alternatives, are increasingly featured in countries' dietary guidelines highlighting their contribution to human health. By prioritising nutritious plant-based foods in public settings, EU member states can thus ensure that a large portion of the population has access to healthy and sustainable food options, leading to long-term savings in healthcare cost. Furthermore, systematically integrating plant-based foods into public procurement can accommodate citizens with specific medical conditions, such as cows milk allergy, as well as those who avoid animal-derived food for ethical, environmental or other reasons, promoting inclusivity. Finally, public procurement rules that recognise the important role of plant-based foods can act as a lever to further stimulate the competitiveness of an already growing European plant-based foods sector and consolidate Europes leading role in plant-based food innovation globally. Best practices and recommendations A number of countries are leading by example, successfully integrating plant-based foods into public procurement. In Finland, schools have widely offered vegetarian meals in the past two decades, recognising their nutritional relevance for children. Similarly, Denmark is set to introduce a food policy requiring vegetarian meals two days a week in all government staff canteens. Also school canteens in France must serve at least one vegetarian meal per week, since 2021. More EU countries such as Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden, have mandated plant-based and/or vegetarian meals in public canteens.
Read full responseResponse to Environmental claims based on environmental footprint methods
20 Jul 2023
ENSA, the European Plant-based Foods Association, representing the interests of plant-based food manufacturers in Europe, welcomes the Commissions Directive proposal on the substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims). The Green Claims Directive will contribute, in tandem with the Empowering Consumers Directive, to align the EU consumer protection legislation with the objective of the Green Deal, i.e., make the EU neutral in GHG emissions by 2050. Both legislations will contribute to prevent greenwashing and will provide consumers with the tools necessary to make sustainable consumption the easy choice. ENSAs mission is to contribute to mainstreaming plant-based meat and dairy alternatives for healthier and more sustainable diets, fully supporting the objective of the Green Deal. Research shows that if everyone incorporated more plant-based foods into their diet, global agriculture land use would be reduced by 75%. This shift could also mitigate CO2 emissions and water use. In addition, soil health could be improved, as leguminous crops increase soil nitrogen levels. Thus, used in rotation with other crops, leguminous crops can significantly reduce the need for fossil fuel-based fertilizers, short in supply in the EU. For plant-based products to be able to continue to support the EUs shift towards a sustainable food system, it is essential for consumers to be informed on the positive environmental impact of a diet including or composed entirely of plant-based products. This is why we welcome the fact that the Commission Green Claims Directive proposal allows for comparisons between the environmental impacts of plant-based products and that of their alternatives of animal origin. We therefore call on the European Parliament as well as on the Council of the EU to preserve this possibility in the final text of the Green Claims Directive.
Read full responseMeeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and European farmers and
27 Jun 2023 · Fit for 55
Response to Amendment of the list of products and substances authorised in organic production
21 Nov 2022
On behalf of the European Plant-Based Foods Association, please find feedback to the draft implementing Regulation attached.
Read full responseMeeting with Joanna Stawowy (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski) and European Vegetarian Union
21 Nov 2022 · Ongoing legislative initiatives on the plant-based food sector
19 Nov 2021
ENSA - the European Plant-based Foods Association has long advocated in favour of including plant-based alternatives to dairy products which are made from European crops in the scope of the School Milk Scheme. All plant-based foods have a role to play in a balanced and sustainable diet and deserve to be promoted as foods made from high quality agricultural products grown in Europe. In addition, children who cannot consume dairy products due to milk allergy or lactose intolerance are deprived from alternative sources of protein, which certain plant-based drinks can provide. Most of these products also contain calcium matching the levels that can be found in dairy products.
One of the objectives of the Scheme is to educate children about healthy eating habits. A healthy diet is a balanced diet, in which plant-based foods can play a role, thanks notably to their low saturated fat content. Several national dietary guidelines have integrated plant-based alternatives to dairy products in healthy eating recommendations.
We would like to take this opportunity to once again call for the inclusion of sustainable plant-based foods products in agricultural promotion schemes (including educational activities), as suggested by the European Commission in its report on the development of plant proteins in the EU and in line with the ambition of the Farm to Fork Strategy for sustainable food systems.
Read full responseMeeting with Jorge Pinto Antunes (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements EU Regional Group
4 Nov 2021 · Organics (lithothamnium)
Response to Sustainable food system – setting up an EU framework
26 Oct 2021
The European Plant-based Foods Association (ENSA) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Inception Impact Assessment (IIA) for a Sustainable Food System Framework (SFSF).
We support the European Commission’s aspiration to develop an integrated policy framework to accelerate and facilitate the transition towards sustainable and more resilient food systems. Facing the challenges of the food system while meeting the large-scale EU’s climate and environmental ambitions will take a holistic rethinking of the ways food is produced and consumed. Against this background, it appears clear to us that Option 4 of the IIA is the only option that can deliver the systemic approach required.
See further details about our contribution in the attached position paper.
Read full responseMeeting with Lukas Visek (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
21 Sept 2021 · Additives to organic food
Response to Education for environmental sustainability
11 May 2021
ENSA welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to embed environmental sustainability into all phases and stages of education, and hopes to see reflected in the scope the need to shift to more sustainable food consumption patterns and food systems. We need to educate a future population about the environmental impact of diets and promote a healthy diet that simultaneously protects the planet.
In the EU, average intakes of energy, red meat, sugars, salt and fats continue to exceed recommendations, while consumption of whole-grain, cereals, fruit and vegetables, legumes and nuts remains insufficient. According to the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, “Moving to a more plant-based diet with less red and processed meat and with more fruits and vegetables will reduce not only risks of life-threatening diseases, but also the environmental impact of the food system.”
The EAT Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health provided a first full scientific review of what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system. According to the report, “Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits.”
Synergies with what the EU can do:
Guidelines for sustainable diets: Encourage governments to adapt dietary guidelines to take into account both nutrition and environmental sustainability. New official dietary guidelines in Denmark recommend eating plant-rich, varied, more vegetables and fruits and less meat. Similar recommendations are made in the 'Wheel of Five' in the Netherlands or the ‘Nordic Nutrition Recommendations’ in Sweden.
EU school scheme: One of the objectives of the Scheme is to educate children about healthy eating habits. The scope should keep in line with sustainable dietary guidelines. As several governments have integrated plant-based alternatives to dairy products in healthy eating recommendations, we believe plant-based alternatives to dairy products with a favourable nutrient profile and made from European crops should be included in the scope of the School Milk Scheme. In addition to ensuring children have access to a wide taste palate of healthy foodstuffs to encourage healthy eating habits, it would ensure equality by also catering for the needs of children with intolerances or allergies.
Read full responseMeeting with Lukas Visek (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
20 Apr 2021 · Plant based diets
9 Mar 2021
The European Plant-based Foods Association (ENSA) welcomes the Commission’s ambition to enhance the contribution of the EU agricultural promotion policy to sustainable food production and consumption. As manufacturers of plant-based food and drink products, we share the mission of nudging consumers toward healthier and more sustainable foods, and believe that the review of the EU agricultural promotion policy should be in coherence with this objective. Extending the scope of eligible products to plant-based foods would provide European farmers with new and viable economic opportunities while ensuring greater policy coherence and a level playing field.
Our members have long been committed to increasing EU self-sufficiency in plant protein by sourcing high quality, GM-free soy and other protein crops, with 2/3 of our members’ soybeans sourced from European farmers, and even 100% in organic. The European Commission’s Plant Protein Plan also clearly states the economic potential of plant proteins for European farmers, highlighting the double-digit annual growth rate of plant-proteins on the food market. However, and despite clear political intent to also use EU agricultural promotion schemes to promote the benefits of plant proteins for human consumption (1), plant-based products made from EU crops are currently not eligible to benefit from these programmes.
Furthermore, whereas the promotion policy has proven successful in raising consumer awareness about the quality of foods produced in the EU, the policy’s evaluation also highlighted the opportunity for better alignment with the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy. The EU promotion policy has indeed the potential to become a central tool for delivering the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, both of which recognize the health and environmental benefits of more plant-based diets.
To keep in line with evolving diets while fostering sustainable food production and consumption, we thus call on the Commission to open the EU promotion policy to a wider variety of foods, including processed plant-based food and drink products made from EU crops. We firmly believe that this will not only enhance the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector, but will empower consumers to make informed choices by providing them with a more exhaustive picture of the marketplace, thereby also ensuring a level playing field amongst food producers.
(1) “Member States and stakeholders are invited to use the various possibilities to proactively communicate and promote protein plants for agriculture, feed and food. One option is to use upcoming calls under the EU promotion programme for agri/food products […]”, European Commission: Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the development of plant proteins in the European Union, 2018.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of EU marketing standards for agricultural products
16 Feb 2021
ENSA, the European Plant-Based Foods Association, welcomes the opportunity to comment on the roadmap for the revision of the EU Marketing Standards.
A review of the Marketing Standards’ legislative framework should be seen in the broader context of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, which aims to make food systems fair, healthier, and environment friendly. In this context, the plant-based food sector must be able to communicate to consumers what their products stand for as healthy and sustainable food options, thus making the consumers feel confident about including plant-based products in their diet. This is in line with the need to rebalance diets towards more plant-based eating, which has been recognised as a key element of the Farm to Fork Strategy as part of the broader effort to reduce the environmental footprint of the food system.
Additional information is available in the attached paper.
Read full responseResponse to Setting of nutrient profiles
3 Feb 2021
ENSA welcomes the intention of the European Commission to revise Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (FIC Regulation), and trusts it will help deliver on the commitment of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy to encourage consumers to adopt heathier and more sustainable eating habits, including more plant-based foods.
We support policy measures aimed at nudging consumers into healthier food choices. Healthy and sustainable options should be made more affordable, continuously more appealing and ought to be supported by policy measures – including information and labelling requirements – that allow consumers to easily distinguish the healthier, more sustainable option.
Depending on the market in which our members are operating, some will already be using voluntary interpretative front-of-pack labelling. Irrespective of the type of nutritional label, as producers of plant-based foods which are used as alternatives to meat and to dairy products, we strongly support labelling schemes that allow consumers to compare between products which are used in the same way and at similar consumption moments, to enable them to make informed choices between two or more options. The nutrient profiling system on which these labels are based should therefore treat animal-based and plant-based products equally. The specificities of plant-based products have been recognised in the French Nutri-score model for instance, where the same algorithm to calculate the score is used for both dairy-based drinks and plant-based drinks (both considered to be closer to food).
More generally, front-of-pack nutrition labelling should be based on science, cover all foods including single ingredient products and reflect national dietary guidelines such as ‘Wheel of Five' in the Netherlands.
When assessing the policy options considered in the Inception Impact Assessment, we urge you to take the characteristics of plant-based products into account, to allow consumers to compare the nutritional quality of food and beverages at a glance and enable them to make better food choices. The Farm to Fork strategy acknowledges the health and sustainability benefits of moving to a more plant-based diet, and we trust that forthcoming proposals will be in coherence with it.
Read full responseMeeting with Lukas Visek (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
10 Nov 2020 · Speech on balanced diets
Response to Farm to Fork Strategy
18 Mar 2020
The European Plant-based Foods Association (ENSA) strongly supports the objectives of the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable food system, through sustainable food production, processing and consumption. We call for the recognition of the contribution that plant-based foods make to a healthy and sustainable diet through their inclusion in dietary guidelines that take into account both nutrition and environmental sustainability. Sustainable dietary guidelines should be used as reference points to encourage consumers to rebalance their diets by including more diverse plant-based foods and to support European farmers to produce high-quality plant protein and and other sustainably-grown crops such as oats, almonds etc.
For specific suggestions on how the EU can support sustainable plant-based diets from farm to fork, please see ENSA’s position attached.
Read full responseResponse to VAT rates proposal
19 Mar 2018
Across EU Member States, plant-based alternatives to dairy and meat products are often subject to different VAT rates, sometimes putting them at a competitive disadvantage vis a vis similar products serving the same needs but of animal origin. A number of Member States e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Finland are logically applying the same VAT rates to plant-based alternatives and animal products. In others EU countries, however, the disparity can range from as low as a 6% rate for milk to 23% for soy and plant-based drinks.
Although this situation is not new, ENSA, the European Natural Soy and Plant-based Foods Manufacturers Association, regrets that the European Commission’s proposal amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards rates of value added tax does not include stricter provisions that would ensure a closer scrutiny from the European Commission on potential tax distortions stemming from even greater flexibility given to Member States to apply reduced VAT rates to certain products, but not to similar, competing products serving the same needs.
A higher taxation of plant-based products, compared to reduced taxation of corresponding dairy and meat products, is detrimental first of all to consumers. Consumers see and use these products as alternatives to milk and meat in view of their nutritional properties. They appeal to consumers for a variety of reasons: they are fit for use by those that are intolerant or allergic to milk products but they also present a nutritious and healthy alternative to consumers that choose to vary or replace animal-based foods to a greater or lesser extent with plant-based foods for health, religious, life-style or environmental reasons. 31% of Spanish millennials use soy drinks (21% among non-millennials), one in three households in some of the European Member States use plant-based alternatives to dairy, and one in ten German consumers buy meat alternatives (one in five among the 16-24 age group). Consumers should not be penalised by a higher VAT rate for having to or choosing to alternate their diet with plant-based foods.
Allowing different VAT rates applying to milk and meat products vs their plant-based alternatives can be considered a tax distortion from a competition point of view – an issue that was explored in the Impact Assessment informing the Commission’s proposal on future VAT rates. “An à la carte differentiation in the rates applied on similar products would clearly work against fair competition”, the Impact Assessment reads, acknowledging that current rules do not prevent the problem. Granting more flexibility to Member States to apply reduced VAT rates, while not automatically aggravating the situation as it is today, will not help solving the issue of competition distortion that currently exists in certain Member States for plant-based products.
ENSA therefore calls on Member States to stop distorting competition in favour of animal-based products to the detriment of plant-based alternatives by applying similar VAT rates to equivalent products. ENSA also calls on EU decision-makers to see the revision of Directive 2006/112/EC as an opportunity to re-examine national criteria for products eligible to reduced VAT rates, in light of evolving consumers’ preferences and practices, a more sustainable diet and fair competition principles.
ENSA represents the interests of natural soyfood and plant-based manufacturers in Europe. The term “natural” refers to the production process used by ENSA members to produce food using whole soybeans, without any use of GM (genetically modified) material or GM beans.
ENSA is an association of internationally operating companies, ranging from large corporations to small, family-owned businesses with an annual turnover of €0.7 billion. Since its establishment, ENSA has been raising awareness about the role of soy and a plant-based diet in moving towards more sustainable food production and consumption patterns.
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