Things haven’t been easy for the food sector in recent years but as vegan meat bounces back, is conventional meat production on its way out?

by CHARLOTTE POINTING

JUNE 8, 2023

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The last few years have been a rollercoaster ride for the plant-based meat market. When Beyond Meat—arguably one of the most well-known brands in the plant-based meat arena—first went public in 2019, it made history when the stock surged to record-breaking highs. Since then, the brand has found its way to grocery store shelves, restaurant menus, and fast-food chains all over the world (hello, McPlant in the UK). But it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the California brand—or indeed, the rest of the plant-based meat industry. 

In a very short period of time, the plant-based meat market was crowded with options. And all of that competition made things complicated. Even Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown has acknowledged that the number of products on the market made it very difficult for his brand to stay on its upward trajectory. We’ve also witnessed a pandemic, and, right now, a cost of living crisis, which has also affected product sales.

But all of that said, Beyond Meat is turning things around, and vegan meat sales—driven by health, environmental, and ethical concerns—do seem to be thriving. The story appears to be a little different for traditional meat, however. Here’s what you need to know.

Beyond Meat

Vegan meat sales to increase 

According to Brown, Beyond Meat is set for a solid second half of this year, which will see the company return to growth and achieve cashflow positive status, reports AgFunder Network Partners (AFN). This follows year-on-year declines in US food service and retail, but growth in international food service.

The company is set to launch new products, after reportedly failing to do enough to separate itself from the pack in recent years. “A tremendous number of entrants came into the [plant-based meat] category,” Brown told AFN. “It became a very crowded and somewhat confusing landscape for the consumer, and I don’t think we did enough to really stand out.”

“Now some of that is taking care of itself as the category shakes out and I think the consumer is left with a much more rational and approachable decision set in grocery,” he added, before revealing that a new, “animalic” edition of the Beyond Burger is set for release. “It’s been a long time in the making,” he said. “But we are receiving very positive reviews from early customer tests.”

Several reports have indicated growth in the plant-based meat sector as a whole. According to Grand View Research, in 2022, the global plant-based meat market was worth more than $4.4 billion, and it’s expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 24.9 percent from 2023 to 2030.

The market research platform does also acknowledge that things haven’t been easy for everyone in the industry (calling out Beyond Meat and fellow California plant-based giant Impossible Foods, specifically), but “rising consciousness” among consumers will help to keep overall growth on track.

“Diverse plant-based meat types continue to grow in popularity, which diversifies and expands the category,” Grand View Research reports. “The exponential growth of refrigerated plant-based meat is likely to continue over the forecast period of 2023-2030. It reflects a shift in both product innovation and merchandising strategies across the plant-based industry.”

Individual retailers have also spotted growth in the plant-based sector. Sprouts Farmers Market, for example, which has more than 380 stores across the US, recently reported a 21-percent growth in the sale of plant-based alternatives. And even meat giants themselves are banking on demand. John Pinto, the CEO of plant-based brand PlantPlus Foods, which was jointly created by Brazil’s second-largest beef producer Marfrig, also recently acknowledged challenges, but predicted that global plant-based food sales will surge to $30 billion in the next decade.

“Plant-based consumption has slowed down due to the macroeconomic scenario and all the supply-chain hurdles that all the food sector faced over the past years,” Pinto told Bloomberg. “We see this moment as a chapter on the sector’s expansion process.”

Adobe Stock

Is demand for conventional meat dropping?

While the plant-based market appears to be accelerating, the story seems a little different in the conventional meat industry.

It’s important to note that the market is undeniably still colossal, worth nearly $900 billion, and millions of people still love regular, animal meat from factory farms. But recent reports indicate that the cost of living crisis has caused consumers to pull back a little from making big animal protein purchases. 

According to data from the Meat Demand Monitor Project, US consumer demand hit a peak during the middle of last year and has been dropping ever since. That said, the demand still remains higher than it was in 2020, during the pandemic.

But there are other reasons, aside from price, for the drop in demand since 2022, claims Professor Glynn Tonsor of Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics. “Regularly … we observe the relative importance of price is lower in many coastal states (on average within those states at least),” he told National Hog Farmer.

“My opinion is most coastal residents likely place a higher priority on environmental impact, animal welfare, and perhaps some other social considerations that differ from the traditional eating experience factors of taste, fresh[ness], etc,” he continued. “Accordingly, this makes price a lower relative factor for those residents.”

In the EU, the meat market also appears to be struggling. In April 2023, for example, the European Commission revealed that beef, pig, and sheep meat production are forecast to see declines. And in the same month, Germany’s Federal Office for Agriculture and Food revealed that the country’s meat consumption was at its lowest level for over 30 years.

This is ultimately good news for climate scientists, who have consistently been urging Western countries to cut down on their meat consumption for the benefit of the environment. Animal agriculture is a leading contributor to a number of major environmental issues, including deforestation and rising greenhouse gas emissions.

In April 2022, one study from the University of Bonn in Germany suggested that meat consumption must drop by at least 75 percent in rich countries, which are putting an unnecessary strain on the planet through a high demand for animal products. 

“If all humans consumed as much meat as Europeans or North Americans, we would certainly miss the international climate targets and many ecosystems would collapse,” said the study’s lead author Professor Matin Qaim.

Published in News on May 31, 2023

There’s a lot of buzz about lab-grown “meat” technology. It involves taking stem cells from an animal to grow inside bioreactors, where cells are fooled into believing they are still inside an animal’s body because they are fed a mixture of nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, sugars and minerals.

Though these biopsies are invasive, supporters argue the process is less painful than many of the procedures an animal might endure during its lifetime on a farm, and the process does not involve the animal being killed.

However, Gary L. Francione, philosopher at Rutgers University and author of the 2020 work Why Veganism Matters: The Moral Value of Animals, said of lab-grown meat that “if an animal was used, it is not vegan.” Period. 

We couldn’t agree more.

Eating “clean meat” will not eliminate harm to animals; eating plants will, in addition to improving individual health.

Flesh produced by lab workers doesn’t offer a better future for animals or the environment. As of right now, all lab-grown meat still uses and commodifies animals — whether it’s foie gras grown from avian starter cells that are taken from a muscle-biopsy procedure or a “clean” hamburger using bovine starter cells, a byproduct from blood of cow fetuses extracted during the slaughtering process.

Find out the truth about lab-grown meat in this Q&A between Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral and Francione.

As you know, on Nov. 21, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided that lab-grown meat made by culturing animal cells is safe to eat. The FDA gave the green light to California-based Upside Foods “chicken,” putting it one step closer to grocery store shelves and restaurants. What’s your reaction to this development?

I am absolutely opposed to any animal use. There is no sort of animal use that I will praise or support. I am not a utilitarian (or consequentialist of any sort) where fundamental rights are involved. So the “but it will reduce the killing of animals” arguments don’t resonate with me. And by the way, I do not think for a second cultured meat will reduce animal use in any significant way. The large agricultural corporations that produce meat know that world population is increasing, and we are running out of space to expand conventional meat production. Cultured meat will supplement a market that I do not think will be substantially reduced and certainly not eliminated. That is, cultured meat is just going to become part of the meat industry. That is why some of those large meat companies are investing in cultured meat.

 Dr. Uma Valeti, the CEO of Upside Foods, said that he’s “thrilled that U.S. consumers will soon have the chance to eat delicious meat that’s grown directly from animal cells.” What’s your response?

Valeti is the CEO of a corporation that develops and makes cultured meat. Of course he’s thrilled.

Will lab-grown meat spare animals from being bred into existence on animal farms, reducing their misery and greenhouse gas emissions?

There is no indication whatsoever that cultured meat is going to replace meat to any significant degree. I think that there is every indication that it will do little more than supplement the existing supply of meat.

Bruce Friedrich, who founded The Good Food Institute, says he’s long been focused on creating a clean alternative to animal agriculture that competes on taste, price and convenience.  He also said a “clean meat” industry would be an alternative to the current objectionable animal farming practices. Do you agree?

I think that we need to shift the paradigm away from animal bodies as food. It makes no sense to me that “animal people” are perpetuating the notion that animals from any source or however produced are food. That is what needs to change. I wish “animal people” would put their time, energy and money into really promoting veganism as a moral imperative and as a major contributor to improved human health and environmental integrity, rather than trying to make money off perpetuating any sort of animal use. That is the same thinking that has fueled the animal welfare movement—a bunch of corporate charities that bring in millions selling “happy” exploitation. That has been a disaster. Why don’t “animal people” stop trying to make a living by promoting anthropocentric and speciesist thinking and behavior?

Gary L. Francione is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Law and Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law (USA). He has written numerous books, articles, and essays on animal rights, the property status of animals, the problems with animal welfare reform campaigns and single issue campaigns, and veganism as a moral imperative. His most recent book is Why Veganism Matters: The Moral Value of Animals, published in 2020 by Columbia University Press. With his colleague and partner, Anna Charlton, he started the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Clinic in 1990, which was the first of its kind anywhere.

BY JOHN LAURITSEN

JUNE 9, 2023 / 11:41 AM / CBS MINNESOTA

• https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/video-pigs-on-the-loose-after-semi-crashes-at-i-694-and-35e/

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A number of Twin Cities drivers had their morning commute delayed, due to pigs on the freeway.

Around 8 a.m., a semi hauling a trailer full of pigs overturned in Little Canada, stopping eastbound traffic on Interstate  694. Some of the pigs died, and those that did survive made their way onto the interstate. Luckily, no people were hurt in the crash.

The common reaction from drivers who were heading eastbound on I-694 Friday morning often matched that of Ethan Knox: “Oh wow, really?”

Many knew there was a crash near 35E, but they didn’t know why. Asked if he’d ever been delayed because of livestock on the loose, Knox said, “No, it’s kind of a shock.”

“No, never. First time. I’ve lived here for 27 years,” said another driver.

The Minnesota State Patrol said the semi-trailer full of pigs was the only vehicle involved in the rollover. Unfortunately, some of the pigs died, But those that didn’t had time to roam a small part of I-694.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras captured some of the chaos.

“That’s not good,” Uber driver Horatius Thomas said.

Thomas had to take a detour to get around the accident, and due to backed-up traffic, he had to tell someone he was picking up that he was going to be late.

https://6269b94aa17458bd8af0118d2f54d173.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

“Yes, I had to do that. And I had to get off because I was just burning gas just being in traffic. Very frustrating,” he said.

The scene was cleared by lunchtime.

The State Patrol said it’s investigating what caused the rollover. 

The State Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle rollover crash, involving a semi and trailer (carrying livestock), eastbound 694 to northbound 35E in Little Canada. There are no injuries at this time. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Find an alternative route. pic.twitter.com/I3OYW1qY5b— State Patrol PIO (@MSPPIO) June 9, 2023

Scientists haven’t settled on a reason, though some say that rise in ocean temperatures could signal the coming of El Niño.

By: New York Times
New York | Updated: June 8, 2023 20:24 IST

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• https://indianexpress.com/article/world/record-pollution-heat-herald-season-climate-extremes-8653214/

Pedestrians walk amid heavy haze from wildfire smoke on the Brooklyn Heights promenade in New York on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (Photo: The New York Times)

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Written by Somini Sengupta

It’s not officially summer yet in the Northern Hemisphere. But the extremes are already here.

Fires are burning across Canada, blanketing parts of the eastern United States with choking, orange-gray smoke. Puerto Rico is under a severe heat alert, as are other parts of the world. Earth’s oceans have heated up at an alarming rate.

Human-caused climate change is a force behind extremes like these. Although there is no specific research attributing this week’s events to global warming, the science is unequivocal that global warming significantly increases the chances of severe wildfires and heat waves like the ones affecting major parts of North America.

Also Read | Quebec orders more evacuations as dozens of wildfires in Canada remain out of control

Scientists are also warning that before the end of the year a global weather pattern known as El Niño could arrive, potentially setting new heat records.

Taken together, the week’s extremes offer one clear takeaway: The world’s richest continent remains unprepared for the hazards of the not-too-distant future. A sign of that came Wednesday when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government may soon create a disaster response agency in order to “make sure we’re doing everything we can to predict, protect and act ahead of more of these events coming.”

The recent fires have also punctured the notion that some places are relatively safe from the worst hazards of climate change because they’re not near the equator or they’re far from the sea. Almost without warning, smoke from faraway fires upended daily life.

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So much wildfire smoke pushed through the border that schools in Buffalo, New York, canceled outdoor activities. Detroit was suffocated by a toxic haze. Flights were grounded at airports in the Northeast.

Explained | Bonn meeting: Taking stock of climate action

“Wildfires are no longer a problem just for people who live in fire-prone, forested areas,” said Alexandra Paige Fischer, a professor who studies fire adaptation strategies at the University of Michigan.

In the United States, more people are already living with wildfire smoke. A 2022 study by Stanford researchers found that the number of people exposed to toxic pollution from wildfires at least one day a year increased 27-fold between 2006 and 2020.

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The two countries experiencing these extremes, the United States and Canada, are major producers of oil and gas, which, when burned, produce the greenhouse gases that have significantly warmed the Earth’s atmosphere. The average global temperatures today are more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in the preindustrial era.

Park Williams, a geologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, pointed out that eastern Canada and northern Alberta are actually projected to get wetter in the coming years, according to climate models. But that wasn’t the case this year. It was an unusually dry year across much of Canada. Then came the heat.

The boreal forests of western Canada offered ready fuel. The trees and grasses of eastern Canada turned to tinder. “Under warmer temperatures, those dry years will cause things to dry out and become flammable more quickly than they would have otherwise,” Williams said.

By Wednesday, more than 400 fires were burning from west to east in Canada, more than half of them out of control.

Also in Explained | ExplainSpeaking: The economics of climate change in India

Other parts of the world have felt the scorch this year. Vietnam broke a heat record in May, with temperatures soaring past 44 degrees Celsius, or 111 Fahrenheit. China broke heat records in more than 100 weather stations in April. The boreal forests of Siberia are also burning.

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As in the North American boreal forests, climate change is making the Siberian fire season longer and more severe. It has also increased lightning ignitions, said Brendan Rogers, a boreal forest fire expert at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. There are different conditions in different years, to be sure, he said in an email, but “the common denominator is warm / hot and dry conditions that prime the ecosystems for burning.”

Where does all that excess heat in the atmosphere go? Much of it is absorbed by the oceans, which is why ocean temperatures have been steadily rising for the past several decades, reaching records in 2022.

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But this spring, something strange happened. Scientists announced with uncharacteristic alarm that ocean temperatures were the hottest they had been in 40 years.

Scientists haven’t settled on a reason, though some say that increase could signal the coming of El Niño. That weather pattern, which typically lasts several years, brings heat up to the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean. We have been living with its cooler cousin, La Niña, for the past few years.

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Jeff Berardelli, a meteorologist at WFLA, a television station in Tampa Bay, Florida, warned on Twitter of the double punch of El Niño in a world already warming because of climate change. “We should expect a stunning year of global extremes,” he wrote.

Puerto Rico was feeling it already this week, with record temperatures and high humidity that brought the heat index to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 52 degrees Celsius) in parts of the island.

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“We are sailing in uncharted waters,” Ada Monzón, a meteorologist at WAPA, a television station in Puerto Rico, tweeted.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

First published on: 08-06-2023 at 20:23 IST