In a recent blog, the editor of the meat-industry mag gave voice to a growing imperative for food companies that rely on the sale of animal products: Diversify.





Editor Lisa Keefe explains:





I suggest going beyond meat. … The rest of the consumer packaged goods world has managed to shift the perception of dietary protein in consumers’ minds from primarily animal-based products to, well, just about anything. Rather than try to shift it back, meat companies might consider going along for the ride. Rather than make and distribute only animal-derived, meat-based products, processors might redefine themselves as makers and distributors of protein products—then create, or acquire, companies and brands related to protein, regardless of origin.





Companies she notes specifically include Beyond Meat Gardein , and even Mark Post’s Mosa Meats —a company that intends to bring clean meat (real meat grown outside an animal) to the market in the near future.





Tyson Foods has become the poster child for the diversification movement. As the meat industry faces broad volume declines for chicken, beef, and pork, Tyson’s fourth quarter sales have slipped $10.5B to $9.2B from 2015, and projections for 2017 don't look promising. In addition, the company is embroiled in a class action lawsuit for allegedly manipulating the price of chicken. In an effort to offset these coming losses, Tyson recently bought into the disruptive plant-based meat company Beyond Meat.





As investors begin to coalesce around their distaste for the financial risks associated with factory farming and consumers become more aware of the negative environmental and public health implications of meat production and consumption, this industry must evolve—and quickly.





The most efficient way for meat producers to tackle the many problems facing industrial meat production is to take Keefe’s advice and re-imagine their roles as protein providers by bringing healthier and more sustainable options to the table.





To learn more about The Good Food Institute’s work to transform the protein market for the better, visit our website





visit cleanmeat.org for info on the who, what, and why of clean meat.



It’s not often that we dole out advice directly from the editorial pages of Meatingplace magazine, but it’s a brave new world, and the times they are a-changin’.