Warner et al., 2024

https://www.new-foodinnovation.co.uk/price-parity

This report breaks down why PB items are so expensive from a technical POV. Th TLDR is that it's mostly production costs as ingredient costs are cheaper and margins aren't that high.

As discussed, flavour is often the most significant chunk of cost in plant-based meat formulations, driven by the complexity and research costs of creating realistic meat flavourings from vegetable sources.

It does not help that the flavour ingredients market is dominated by a few specialist global companies with huge barriers to entry. It is telling that, despite massive investor interest in the sector, precious few start-ups or scale-ups are offering innovative plant-based flavour solutions.

Flavour

Two or three elements drive flavour costs. A typical burger formulation will have a savoury base element, a top-note meat flavour, a grill flavour, and a masking flavour. Masking is essential because, unfortunately, most plant protein sources have an unpleasant taste that requires covering up in some way. Beany, green and bitter
consumers, especially those wanting a realistic meat experience. There are considerable opportunities to reduce costs here. The fact that a relatively small number of global companies dominate the flavour market means that sometimes manufacturers are overpaying in this area