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New York meeting brings companies and investors together to discuss innovations and opportunities in plant-based alternatives to animal proteins
Investors Impax Asset Management, Green Century and Tyson Ventures speak, hosted by Neuberger Berman
Recent Rabobank report projects 6% annual growth of alternative protein products in the US, compared to flat growth of meat products
Meat reduction increasingly relevant for investor themes, as livestock production contributes 14.5% to global GHG emissions
(08 December 2017, New York), High-profile investors and companies gathered in New York yesterday to discuss the rapidly growing market for plant based and alternative proteins and the potential for this market to represent “a systemic shift” in the coming years. A recent Rabobank report**[1]** predicts that alternative proteins could represent a third of total EU protein demand growth in the next five years.
Food companies are already seizing the opportunities presented by this growing market. Meat substitute producer Quorn, for example, reported unprecedented global growth in the first half of 2017 with sales up 19% worldwide. This month, global restaurant chain TGI Fridays announced it would sell plant-based Beyond Burgers at over 500 US restaurants**[2]** to capture changing customer demand. Beyond Meat has already tripled its burger distribution this year since being rolled out in over 600 Kroger-owned stores. Recently, Nielsen reported that over a one-year period, the plant-based foods category in the US grew 8.1%, topping $3.1 billion in sales.
The event, ‘Sustainable Food Systems: Investment Risks & Opportunities’ was organised by the FAIRR investor network, an initiative founded by private equity pioneer Jeremy Coller, and hosted by Neuberger Berman. Speakers included Bruce Friedrich (The Good Food Institute), Sara Olson (Lux Research), Thomas Mastrobuoni (Tyson Ventures), and Marissa LaFave (Green Century Capital Management).
Thomas Mastrobuoni of Tyson Ventures said:
“Tyson Ventures was established with the mandate to invest in emerging companies on the cutting edge of innovation in the food industry. We have the incredible privilege of helping shape the future of food and are excited for what that future holds.”
Sara Olson, Senior Analyst at Lux Research Inc said:
“Alternative proteins are quickly moving out of the realm of emerging technologies and into the mainstream, representing an opportunity of well more than one hundred billion dollars in the coming decade. Lux Research anticipates the global meat industry evolving into a global protein industry, and the winners in ten years will be those that most earnestly embrace these new sources of protein.”
Rosie Wardle, Head of Investor Engagements at FAIRR, said:
“The event was a forum for investors to consider material risks and opportunities in protein production. The growth of plant-based alternatives represents the start of a systemic shift in the food industry, and investors must take note. Its growth is likely to have positive and far-reaching implications for public health, the environment and investment returns.”
Ends
Notes to editor
For more information please contact:
Rosie Wardle, FAIRR Initiative,
t: + 44 (0)7525 434162 | e: rosie.wardle@fairr.org
About FAIRR
The FAIRR (Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return) investor network is a Coller Initiative. It is a collaborative forum for investors that aims to raise awareness of the material impacts factory farming and poor animal welfare can have on investment portfolios, and works to help investors share knowledge and form collaborative engagements on these issues. www.fairr.org
