From plant-based burgers to chick’n nuggets, companies have launched a variety of new products, made acquisitions and forged partnerships to be in the meat alternative space. According to the Good Food Institute, $5.9 billion has been invested in alternative protein companies — plant-based, fermentation and cultivated or cell-based — between 2010 and 2020.

Retail sales in the space also continue to grow. In 2020, plant-based meat had $1.4 billion in sales and made up 2.7% of all U.S. retail packaged meat sales, according to SPINS data released by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association. And sales of plant-based protein and meat alternatives are projected to keep on growing, hitting a whopping $85 billion in 2030, according to a 2019 study from investment firm UBS.

Almost two-thirds of consumers said they had eaten at least one plant-based meat product in the previous year, according to a November 2021 study by the International Food Information Council. Of those consumers, 20% said they eat them at least weekly and 22% eat them daily. The top three reasons that consumers said they ate plant-based products were for their perceived healthfulness, high-quality protein and taste. Environmental and sustainability benefits were a top reason for 23% of consumers, and many alternative protein companies tout their relatively low carbon footprints.

Click on company names, product types or business action to learn more about products, investments, partnerships and controversies among plant-based and fermented meat companies. This tracker will be continually updated.