Food & Bev trade shows used to be a plant-based parade. Oat milk lattes, chickpea puffs and facon sandwiches hitting you from every second stall.

But at this year’s Naturally Good, an expo for up-and-coming consumer-packaged-goods brands - the vibe was different.

The air smelled like bone broth. Hands were moisturised with tallow balm. And cheeseburger snack bars made of brisket were totally normal.

This wasn’t a blip. It was a full-blown shift.

Across the show floor, animal-based products were everywhere. Loud, proud, and unapologetic. No more hiding behind “paleo-friendly” euphemisms. These brands were leaning into meat, fat, and organs - with confidence, and often a wink.

We’re not just seeing a return to animal products.

We’re seeing the rise of post-vegan branding.

Let’s break down what’s really going on here…

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The shift from virtue to function.

The first conversation I had was debating the appeal of tallow in skincare.

I worked for a plant-based personal care brand for a long time and tallow was always on the “NO” list. So to see it marketed as a lead ingredient was a bit of a trip.

TUTTOFARE, the brand behind Tallow Balm, is riding hard against the grain. They’ve got cute pastel branding, “Got Beef” hats, and an unapologetic message: forget ideology - this stuff works.

Tallow was used in skincare for decades before it got cancelled by the vegan movement. Now it’s back, framed as effective, natural, and ancestrally proven.

And it’s not just skincare.

Loco Love, once the darling of premium vegan chocolate, just dropped a new line with real butter.

Not a plant-based dupe. Not a clever workaround. Butter butter.

Why? “The world’s moving on,” the founders said.
And so is their brand.

It’s a sharp pivot away from ideology and toward indulgence and taste. When a staunch vegan brand repositions with a new line, it’s worth paying attention to what’s going on there.

But the real star of the show was bone broth.

It was everywhere. Broth concentrates, infused rice, sauces, protein snacks - cow bones and collagen in everything you could imagine.

And the tone wasn’t woo-woo wellness. It wasn’t aspirational or preachy. It was practical. Bone broth was being positioned as fuel. As flavour. As fact.

Here’s what it is. Here’s why it works. That’s it.

There were no laboured claims, no lifestyle sermons. Just a sense that the pendulum had swung.

That’s the post-vegan playbook:
Less moralising, more metabolising.

So what’s driving the shift?

Brands don’t create culture. They respond to it.

We like to think we’re shaping the future, but most of the time, we’re just catching up. Brands are lagging indicators. We follow where consumer curiosity goes - chasing demand, interest, and subtle shifts in how people see the world.

So let’s be clear: this isn’t about hating vegans. It’s not some carnivore manifesto.

What we’re seeing is something more nuanced and honestly, way more interesting.

The wellness rebrand of meat & fat

Consumers aren’t just chasing health anymore, they’re chasing function. Gut health, brain health, high protein, bioavailable nutrients. And more people are starting to question whether a pea protein nugget or an almond milk latte actually delivers on those promises.

The decline of plant-based hype

Even the big players are feeling it. Beyond Meat’s losses keep piling up. Forecasts are being pulled. Retailers are quietly clearing shelf space.

For a while, plant-based had the health halo by default. But that shine is fading.

We’re now seeing oat milks and meat substitutes lumped into the same “ultra-processed” category as soft drinks and sugary cereals.

Consumers are getting savvier. They want indulgence and wellness. Clean labels and credible function. And for many, butter and bones feel more honest than processed plants and synthetic gums.

Founders are leading the shift

And here’s the kicker: it’s not just a consumer-driven shift. Some of the most fascinating changes are happening on the founder side.

Plant-based pioneers are quietly evolving. Not because the market told them to but because they changed.

They’ve experimented. They’ve learned. And in many cases, they’ve moved on.

Take Loco Love. That pivot to using real butter wasn’t the result of a consumer insight study. It was a personal evolution. A values shift. A new belief system.

And when founders make those moves publicly, it creates space for others to follow. It says: you can evolve too.

What this means for brands in this space

If you’re still building your brand on a plant-based message alone - take note.

“Vegan” used to be a story. Now it’s just a spec. It’s a checkbox, not a compelling reason to believe. Today’s consumer wants more than labels. They want results, flavour and a point of view.

Post-vegan branding is giving them all three.

It’s not the death of plant-based. But it’s a reminder: no belief system is sacred in a category this dynamic. Consumers shift. Founders evolve. And the brands that adapt early get to define what comes next.

And if your brand is still whispering about its protein source while everyone else is yelling “MEAT,” don’t be surprised when you get drowned out.