Bean Supreme Bows Out – Is the Cost-of-Living Crisis Killing NZ’s Plant-Based Dream?

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Another one bites the bean.

Bean Supreme, one of New Zealand’s longest-standing plant-based pioneers, has officially thrown in the (soy-based) towel. Owner, Life Health Foods has confirmed production is winding down and the brand’s burgers, bangers and beloved mince will disappear from supermarket shelves by July.

Source: Bean Supreme-Life Health Foods

The stated reason? A sharp fall in consumer demand. The real reason? Possibly something a lot messier - a nation buckling under the weight of a cost-of-living crisis and reverting, under pressure, to what’s familiar, fatty, and cheap.

Let’s be honest. For all our aspirational talk about climate, health, and sustainability, when the grocery bill hits triple digits and rent’s overdue, the $9.99 pack of beef mince wins out over the $11.26 four-pack of plant-based patties. It’s not about values anymore. It’s about survival.

Life Health Foods, which operates under a charitable arm linked to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, says the market has shifted. “Tough market conditions coupled with the way consumers shop for these products [is] shifting in a challenging economic environment,” says a spokesperson. Translation - people are broke, and bean burgers are becoming a luxury item.

It’s not just Bean Supreme. Remember Sunfed Meats? The breakout Kiwi alt-meat darling once promising to disrupt the meat industry with pea protein chicken and beef-less bull? Gone. Founder Sukul Lee shut up shop last year, citing post-Covid investor fatigue and the end of the “plant-based gold rush.” Her stark warning - don’t confuse hype with long-term value.

Even supermarket giants are noticing the retreat. Foodstuffs, the parent of Pak’nSave and New World, acknowledged the once-explosive vegan/plant-based category is now in contraction mode. “A couple of years ago, the plant-based category grew rapidly… since then, growth has slowed, with some vendors exiting the space".

That’s corporate speak for, the honeymoon is over.

So, what’s really going on here?

New Zealand’s food inflation has outpaced wage growth. Meat, controversial, subsidised, and still seen by many as the ‘real food’, remains the default. Plant-based brands, often imported or reliant on costly production processes and ingredients, struggle to compete on price, even when the values are sound.

And let’s not ignore the cultural elephant in the room. New Zealand's a nation raised on mince on toast and Sunday roasts. When stress hits, consumers don’t turn to tofu, they turn to tradition.

This isn’t to say the plant-based movement is dead in New Zealand. But it is shedding its startup sheen and facing a painful truth that ethics alone won’t keep the doors open if the price tag sends shoppers running.

Maybe it’s time for a reset. A new wave of affordable, culturally relevant, APT (A Protein Thing) function-first plant-based products not relying on legacy branding or VC pipe dreams.

Because while the plant-based vision might still be alive, for now at least, it’s looking less like a revolution and more like a luxury. The facts as they are!!

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