Ramping up capacity
Mid last week I shared a Forbes article that lays the land of the plant-based food sector in particular. Thought leaders discuss the rise in plant-based food options in the article, that has gained interest of large consumer groups, especially vegan, millennial and Gen Z.
According to the article, investors are becoming more and more interested in helping the sector thrive. Besides, consumers want to understand the origin of their food. ‘How about animal abuse & environmental issues, unsafe practices and dangerous working conditions for production staff across the meat industry.’
Key players
Beyond Meat (US) announced last September that it is bringing its Asian production facility over to greater Shanghai (PRC). And mid December the company also announced the completion this spring of its new Global HQ & Technology Centre, located in El Segundo (CA, US) not far from its present HQ & R&D centre.
Furthermore, the Very Good Food Company (VERY) has taken its Rupert facility (Vancouver, Canada) into operation, the former Daiya Foods facility, allowing VERY to ramp up capacity by a mere 27x versus current capacity. Burger King teamed up with Impossible Foods (US) & McDonald’s announced the launch of their own platform McPlant.
Investment vehicles
The biggest challenges for the plant-based food category, is to compete with the conventional meat industry on price, taste & texture and availability (scalability). There is a risk however, that too many start-ups flood the plant-based market that has not yet fully developed. Roughly 20% of all start-ups fail within the first two years of existence, according to recent studies.
Global investment vehicles in this sector include: Blue Horizon (CH), Stray Dog Capital (US), Eat Beyond Global (CA), Clear Current Capital (US) and Veg Capital (UK) a.o.
What is needed
It is claimed that the sector needs experienced food consultants and entrepreneurs focused on manufacturing, branding & marketing, influencers, finance & sales. All of which fueled by the continued support of co-manufacturers.
Read the full article here.