Are plant-based meats really dying, or are these alternatives actually taking off?

March 21st, 2023

In May 2019, plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat created history by becoming the world’s first vegan meat brand to get listed on the US NASDAQ. This IPO brought the entire meat alternatives industry out of the niches and into the spotlight. The optimism of not just the vegan meat industry, but also investors was at an all time high. 

The vegetarian meat industry became a hotspot for innovations, new startups, fresh funding, R&D. Vegetarian meat brands Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods became unofficial ambassadors of the alternative protein industry. Despite all this enthusiastic activity, both these companies inevitably faced problems that beset many startups. 

Layoffs, C-suite resignations, declining sales, falling stock prices, fewer restaurant partnerships — these were just some of the problems these plant-based substitutes started grappling with. These company-specific problems (from the US market only) were blown up by a Bloomberg article in mid-January 2023 as the ‘death of the entire plant-based meat market’. 

Amidst the controversy, a community was brewing parallelly on the side. The sweeping, unfounded declarations were met with immense outrage. Social media, especially Linkedin and Twitter, was abuzz with counter arguments, debates, reports, theories. The backlash was so strong that many other publications came out with features countering or balancing the views. 

HOW THE MEAT ALTERNATIVES CONTROVERSY CREATED COMMUNITY

Aftershocks from the article were felt long after January 2023. All the way till at least the last week of February. Let’s begin with some numbers showing how the entire community came together and gave voice to the outrage: 

Passionate and viral social media posts

1. Across Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter, engagement on content related to this topic went through the roof.

2. The author of the original article had her posts on Linkedin and Twitter gaining  a tremendous amount of reactions, reposts and comments. 

3. The same was witnessed on Bloomberg’s company pages, Impossible Food’s company pages, and Impossible Foods’ founder’s posts. 

4. Plant-based influencers were extremely vocal and viral too. 

5. Authors and company pages of other publications actively got behind this entire controversy. 

The plant-based food sector also responded in many other ways:

Open letter to Bloomberg + Live debate at a conference

One of the most vocal and popular voices in the plant-based space, Jennifer Stojkovic, not only wrote a letter to Bloomberg (they refused to publish), but she also scheduled a live debate with the author of the article, Deena Shanker, at the Vegan Women Summit in May 2023. 

Linkedin live interview

Another Linkedin plant-based influencer, Elysabeth Alfano, interviewed Deena Shanker and called it ‘Food Fight’. 

Analogies

Many shot back with unarguable analogies such as the post below: 

Print ad and blog post

Impossible Foods responded by releasing a full page ad in The New York Times and writing a detailed rebuttal on their blog. 

IMPACT OF THE CONTROVERSY ON THE PLANT-BASED PROTEIN MARKET IN INDIA

Abhishek Sinha, Co-founder and CEO at GoodDot, a vegetarian meat brand, said, “As a plant-based meat brand, the story did not have any impact on our business. In fact, the impact on the larger plant-based meat space itself in India has not been of note. India rolls very differently than the US market and the major players therein.”

He further added, “Indian consumers are very value conscious and even during the peak buzz in the plant-based meat space in the US, the consumers in India looked for a value based offering in terms of taste and price. While not directly applicable to Indian plant-based meat space, such stories indeed reinforce the belief of the Indian industry to chart its own independent path based upon strong fundamentals.”

Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director, Plant Based Foods Industry Association, added, "Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are just two of many companies operating within the larger plant-based food industry, and they do not represent the entire industry, and definitely not the Indian plant-based foods sector.”

“The industry is diverse, inclusive, and offers a wide range of options for consumers with varying needs and taking into consideration cultural and religious preferences. This can be visibly seen with the growing rate of adoption of milk alternatives in numerous cafes, supermarkets and stores, and mock meat in the menus of hotels, restaurants, and street side shops,” he added.  

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE INDIAN PLANT-BASED FOOD SECTOR?

1. Climate compulsion

Despite the doomsday predictions of naysayers, the sustainable protein industry is going to do well. It must. That is the only way most countries and companies will be able to meet their climate and sustainability goals. 

Varun Deshpande, Managing Director, The Good Food Institute India, said, “There is scientific consensus that the world cannot meet its Paris Agreement targets without shifting away from conventional animal agriculture. With the demand for meat set to double by 2050, there is an urgent need for a protein transition, especially in countries like India, which will house a majority of the world’s growing population.”

The latest Boston Consulting Group report found that, "Increasing the global market share of alternative proteins from 2% today to 8% by 2030 could yield an emissions reduction equivalent to decarbonizing 95% of the aviation industry.” Alt proteins in this case, covers dairy alternatives too.

2. Collaborative mindset and approach

This is not difficult to achieve. If the alternative protein industry takes a collaborative instead of competitive approach, the entire industry can get into the mainstream and thus, accelerate climate action. 

Remember AMFI’s ‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’ campaign to educate the masses about a relatively unknown and unfavoured investment product? That educational campaign brought all mutual funds from all brands into the mainstream. The vegan meat industry needs the same mindset and approach. 

To encourage the collaborative approach, The World Economic Forum has announced a challenge to find sustainable sources of food for the future. 

Ideas can come from anywhere. Open challenges like this tap into the creativity and innovative thinking of diverse, cross-disciplinary groups from anywhere in the world. By not restricting their search to only scientists or select few team members, The WEF is making the best use of collaborative creativity.  

3. The promising India story 

A recent report from Cognitive Market Research found that APAC shows profitable growth in the near future due to the huge adoption of plant-based meat in countries like China, Japan, and India. 

For instance, Cargill has expanded their RadiPure pea protein in the Middle East, Turkey, Africa (META) & India, which will help to meet the growing demand for plant-based meat products. Moreover, Beyond Meat has entered the Indian plant-based meat market through a partnership with Allana Consumer Products.

Varun, from The Good Food Institute, was very optimistic about India’s role in the emerging alternative proteins story. “Even as more mature markets go through an inflection point, markets like India with their robust manufacturing capabilities and tremendous agricultural biodiversity hold immense promise for meeting the increasing domestic and global demand at much lower costs, thereby boosting India’s economy,” he said.

Early adopters of this segment - young consumers aged between 25-40 (who will be the biggest age group by 2040) - have a high positive disposition towards plant-based meat with nearly 77% of them willing to try the category. 

Given our large middle class, increased awareness of human and planetary health concerns, and deep-seated cultural views on meat consumption, more R&D to improve the taste, price, and nutrition profile will make these products ideally placed to provide a simple switch, that is not a sacrifice.