What's the future for plant-based meats?

Recent problems at Beyond Meat – stock down, sales flat, staff laid off – have left observers wondering whether the issues are specific to one company or will engulf the wider plant-based meat industry. 

Why it matters

In recent years, the sector has been going from strength to strength, as meatless products became increasingly mainstream, eaten in people’s homes and appearing on the menus of fast-food chains (Beyond Meat supplies the product used in McDonald’s McPlant burger).

But that is changing. “At the category level, we’re seeing volumes for plant-based meats down 22 consecutive months now,” food analyst John Baumgartner told The New York Times. The big question is why.

Industry issues 

• The sector may have simply hit a ceiling in terms of likely consumers (a Deloitte survey doubted whether the 53% not buying plant-based meats could be turned into customers).
• There’s a concern that too many products have been rushed out to capitalize on the previously growing market, but if consumers don’t like the taste or texture first time, they’re probably not coming back.
• The sector has been pulled into the culture wars, with some consumers regarding plant-based meats as “woke” and linked to politically left-leaning ideas.
• Inflationary price rises could be deterring some people from experimenting.
• IRI data shows volume sales of refrigerated plant-based meats down 11.6% over the past year, while those of cheaper, frozen plant-based meats fell only slightly. 

Company performance varies 

• Impossible Foods reports “hypergrowth”, with retail sales up 60% year-over-year. 
• According to IRI, volume sales at Kellogg’s-owned Morningstar Farms are down in every category, an outcome the brand attributes to supply-chain issues.
• Brazilian meatpacker JBS has announced it is closing Planterra Foods, its plant-based meat operation, after just two years.

Key quote

“We’re positive on the future for plant-based meat, but this is a 20- to 25-year story. It’s not going to happen in three to five to ten years” – John Baumgartner, consumer food analyst at Mizuho Americas.

Sourced from New York Times

[Image: Beyond Meat]