Meat has a special place in human diets. Modern human beings have an innate preference for meat as it is both energy?dense and protein?rich. Meat has important social as well as nutritional functions, and in many societies the consumption and provision of certain types of meat signals status or hospitality. By 2050, global food systems will need to meet the dietary demands of more than 10 billion people who on average will be wealthier than people today and will aspire to the type of food choices currently available only in high?income countries. It would be impossible for a global population of 10 billion people to eat the amount of meat typical of diets in North America and Europe and keep within the agreed sustainable development goals (SDGs) for the environment and climate: it would require too much land and water, and lead to unacceptable greenhouse?gas and other pollutant emissions. In addition, excess meat consumption and current production have significant effects on human health, livelihoods and the economy. Thus, it has become imperative for humans to move on to some alternative meat options. The available options point towards plant-based meat. As per UMI, the Global Plant-Based Food market stood at US$ 4,373.0 million in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.19% during the forecast period 2019-2025.

Snapshot of Plant-Based Meat, US

Plant-based meats account for less than 1% of overall meat sales in the United States

US consumers bought 157 million units of plant-based meats in 2018, witnessing as grow of 23% compared to that of 2017

Plant-based meats are starting to hit that sweet spot where they are competitive with the animal-based meat products that they’re replacing on the basis of taste, price, and accessibility

A $100 million venture capital fund was created by New Capital Crops in 2018 to improve the manufacture and distribution of plant-based meats

Multinational giants like Tyson, which is the world’s second-largest processor of chicken, beef, and pork, have invested in plant-based meat companies

Burger King is rolling out Beyond Burgers to its nearly 7,300 restaurants, and other brands like Wendy’s have experimented with meat alternatives

The majority of people who eat plant-based meats are not vegans or vegetarians. Instead, they’re omnivores who want diversity in their diet

The above reasons have already started to contribute to the increasing demand and market of plant-based meat. US sales are alone expected to increase by 78% to $2.5 billion between 2018 and 2023. The US market alone can balloon as much as US $ 140 billion in the decade itself. Owing to this reason, many players are jumping in this market to encash on the profits that are being associated with the market. Following are some of the major players of the market-

Impossible Foods: Founded in 2011, Impossible Foods is a Silicon Valley start-up with a mission to make the global food system more sustainable. Known for its Impossible Burger, a plant-based patty, that can be found at more than 300 restaurants across the United States. Impossible Burgers require 95% less land and about 1/4 of the water used compared to a beef patty. Impossible Foods’ process also produces about 1/8 of greenhouse gases. The Impossible Burger has fewer calories and fat, more protein, and no cholesterol. Impossible Foods has a soy-based formula, have also raised consumers’ interest with products that mimic meat so closely in taste and texture that they’re being sold at Burger King and Carl’s Jr

Tyson Foods: Tyson, the largest meat distributor, recognizes the future of food is not grounded in meat, predicting that in 25 years, 20% of meat will consist of non-meat products. Tyson Foods has invested in Beyond Meat, a protein company that produces meat products in a laboratory. Presently, Beyond Meat’s products are in more than 19,000 stores. Apart from this, Tyson food recently announced that it will launch its own brand of alternative protein products, including plant-based nuggets and blended burgers made with beef and plants in 2019. Tyson has been watching the alternative protein market for a while. Its investment arm, Tyson Ventures, acquired a 5% stake in Beyond Meat in 2016. It sold that stake before Beyond Meat’s IPO, but it continues to hold investments in other start-ups, including Memphis Meats and Future Meat Technologies which grow meat from cells and mushroom-based protein start-up Myco Technology

Beyond Meat: Beyond Meat, which held its IPO in May 2019, forecasts US $210 million in sales in 2019. It makes burgers and sausages from pea protein. The company said in a regulatory filing that it planned to offer 9.5 million shares priced at US $23 to US $25 each, updating the original plan to offer 8.75 million shares priced at US $19 to US $21 each. In the end, it sold 9.63 million shares, with underwriters holding the option to sell another 1.44 million shares in case of over-allotment. The stock began trading Thursday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “BYND.”

Tofurky: Tofurky is one of the oldest brands selling plant-based food even before the concept originated and became popular. The company is known to be privately held and does not accepts any private investments. But owing to the increasing demand of plant-based food, the company has to increaser its production. The lead to the company to accept a private funding of $7m via a private investment to help scale production of its plant-based refrigerated sausages, deli slices, grounds, roasts and tempeh. This is even after opening 44,000 square foot manufacturing facility in 2016.

Kraft Foods: Kraft Foods has produced meatless products under the Boca label since 2000. The Kraft Heinz Company has reformulated and rebranded the product to tap into the growing plant-based movement. The company further plans to invest in start-ups based on plant-based food. Under this, the company has launched an incubator program wherein the incubator is accepting applications from companies that satisfy at least one of four pillars: natural and organic, specialty and craft, health and performance, and experiential brands. Incubator participants will receive $50,000 in funding, guidance from Kraft Heinz mentors and experts, access to tools such as culinary kitchens, and networking opportunities

Nestle: In September 2017 Nestle purchased Sweet Earth Foods, putting them in the plant-based foods market. Sweet Earth sells products like “Harmless Ham” and “Benevolent Bacon” that are sold in more than 10,000 stores. In 2019, Nestle plans to sell veggie burger in the US. Further, nestle launched its plant-based Incredible Burger in April 2019 under the Garden Gourmet brand in several European countries. Apart from this, the company is also planning to expand its plant-based burger sales partnership with fast food chain McDonald’s beyond Germany. McDonald’s started selling the patties as “Big Vegan TS” in its 1,500 restaurants in Germany in collaboration with Nestle in April 2019 itself. The success and response from the customers are pushing them to take next step of launching the same in other countries as well.

Author: Soumya Srivastava

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