2025 Regional Retail Insights for Plant-Based Foods [June 2026]

The 2025 Regional Retail Insights report, produced in collaboration with our with our sister organization the Plant Based Foods Institute (PBFI), breaks down retail sales insights, household penetration, and repeat rates across all four U.S. census regions, and the picture it reveals offers a clear view of where consumer momentum is strongest and where it is building fastest.

Regional Highlights

1. The West is the benchmark market: Over 67% of households across the Western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, purchased plant-based foods in 2025, and 84.1% of those households came back for more. Western households had the highest household penetration and repeat rate of any region and accounted for the most dollars spent on tofu, tempeh, and seitan in 2025. 
2. The Northeast is deepening loyalty in key categories: Plant-based cheese repeat rates grew 7.6%, and plant-based seafood posted 31.1% dollar growth in Northeast states. These are signals for brands and retailers about where to focus investment.
3. The South is the industry's largest regional market by volume: Southern households accounted for 36% of all U.S. plant-based food dollars in 2025, including 37 cents of every dollar spent on plant-based milk and 34.6% of plant-based meat dollars. 
4. The Midwest recorded the fastest household penetration growth of any region in 2025: Household penetration rates in the Midwest showed gains across every tracked category. Nebraska led all states nationally with plant-based dairy household penetration growth of 11.7%. North Dakota followed at 10.2% growth. For brands making distribution and retail investment decisions, the directional signal from the Midwest is clear.