The Economist - UK (2022-05-28)

62 Business TheEconomistMay28th 2022

Foodmaking

A taste of things to come

A

goodveganmilkneedstolooklike

milk and taste like milk, whether it’s a

fatty  version,  preferred  by  bakers,  or  a

skimmed one, favoured by the health­con­

scious. And, for coffee­drinkers, it should

ideally foam like the stuff from a cow. For

years  manufacturers  have  had  trouble

hacking this delicate imitation game. Rap­

idly  rising  revenues  suggest  that  they  are

getting much better at it. In America alone,

$2.6bn  of  plant­based  milk  was  sold  in

2021, up from $2bn in 2018. 

Pseudo­milks  are  only  one  category  in

the growing assortment of passable plant­

based  alternatives  to  animal  products.

There are now convincing versions not just

of  meat  but  of  cheese,  eggs  and  even

prawns.  Burger  King  and  McDonald’s  sell

vegan  patties;  Chipotle  has  made  a  plant­

based chorizo. Last year the world’s largest

producer  of  canned  tuna,  Thai  Union,

launched a plant­based line. Growing sales

show  the  growing  taste  for  this  type  of

foodstuff  (see  chart).  bcg,  a  consultancy,

reckons that global revenues from alterna­

tive proteins could reach $290bn by 2035—

and that is a cautious estimate.

Eager  investors  have  poured  into  the

business like oatmilk into a latte. Alterna­

tive­protein companies lapped up $5bn in

investments  in  2021,  60%  more  than  in

2020.  Oatly,  a  Swedish  firm  that  makes
      plant­based milk, raised $1.4bn on its Nas­
      daq  debut  last  year.  Impossible  Foods,
      which  makes  meatless  burgers,  raised
      $500m  in  November,  valuing  the  firm  at
      $7bn.  In  February  Nestlé,  a  packaged­
      goods  giant,  acquired Orgain,  which
      makes plant­based protein powder, for an
      undisclosed  sum  rumoured  to  be  around
      $2bn. Can the feast last?
      One reason to be hopeful is that alterna­
      tive  proteins  have  come  a  long  way  since
      the  1980s,  when  Quorn,  a  fungus­based
      meat  alternative,  first  hit  supermarket
      shelves.  Silk,  a  soya  milk,  followed  in  the
      1990s.  Unlike  those  early  products,  which
      were neither terribly tasty nor particularly
      nutritious,  the  latest  crop  are  often  both.
      Clever  processing  improves  texture,  addi­
      tives  boost  taste  and  a  pinch  of  specially
      engineered peas and beans adds nutrients. 
      Firms  are  experimenting  with  ever
      more novel ingredients in search of meat­
      and  dairy­like  properties  that  will  attract
      ever more shoppers. TerViva, an American
      startup,  is  using  the  oil  of  pongamia,  an
      Asian tree, to mimic butter. ChickP, an Is­

raeli  firm,  is  using  chickpea  extracts  to

mimic the texture and nutritional value of

eggs in mayonnaise. Firms are also getting

better  at  turning  such  bounty  into  con­

sumer products. There are now ways of us­

ing  corn  protein  to  make  plant­based

cheese alternatives melt and stretch. 

Better  products  and  lower  prices—the

result  of  both  improved  manufacturing

techniques  and  scale—have  coincided

with  the  rise  of  “flexitarians”,  who  forgo

meat but not always. Some are trying to cut

saturated  fat  for  health  reasons—a  trend

fuelled  by  the  pandemic.  Fitness  fanatics

on  faddish  diets  want  to  develop  bulging

muscles  without  building  up  cholesterol.

Concernsaboutanimalwelfareandgreen­

house­gas emissions from rearing live­

stockaredrivingtheclimate­consciousto

limittheiranimal­derivedintake;produc­

inga gramofbeefgenerates 25 timesthe

volume ofgreenhouse­gasemissions as

producinga gramoftofu.

Foralltheadvantages,makinga plant

nottastelikea planttakeswork,andultra­

processedsubstitutesseldommatchani­

malproteinsinnutritionalvalue.Plant­

basedjunkfoodisstilljunk.Soyaisa com­

monallergenandcanhavea disruptiveef­

fectonhormones.Green­mindedconsum­

ersarerealisingthatplant­baseddoesnot

necessarilymeansustainable.Farmingal­

mondstomakea milk­likedrink,forex­

ample,useshugequantitiesofwater.As

inflationrises,evendiehardflexitarians

mayturnintoomnivores,andpickeither

thereal deal(cheaperthanfaux animal

proteins)orveg(cheaperstill).

Plant­basedproteinsarealsoatough

sellingiantmarketslikeIndia,wherediets

arealreadyplant­rich,orNigeria,where

meat­eatingisa signofwealth.Thatlimits

theirglobalappeal.Andanimalproducts,

including milk, arebetter for children’s

bonedevelopmentandnurturinggutbac­

teria,thoughlab­grownversionsofmeat

and dairy are becoming more nutritious.

All  this  suggests  that  alternative  pro­

teins  have  far  to  go  to  replace  the  animal

kind. The limitations may be weighing on

the  firms  involved.  Oatly’s  market  value

has  fallen  by  about  80%  since  its  listing,

partly  because  of  production  difficulties.

That  of  Beyond  Meat,  whose  burgers  fea­

ture  in  McDonald’s  McPlant  sandwich,  is

down  by  90%  from  its  peak  in  2019.  Sales

slowed  in  2021  and  losses  widened  to

$100m  in  the  first  quarter  of  2022,  com­

pared with $27m a year earlier. Plant­based

foods  may  nolonger  be  only  an  appetiser

in diets, but theirmakers remain one in the

food business.n

Plant-based proteins are increasingly popularwithdiners

Food for thought

Retail sales, $bn

Sources:EuromonitorPassport;GFI

20

15

10

5

0

21192017

Milk

alternatives

LatinAmerica MiddleEastandAfrica

Asia-Pacific Europe North America

20

15

10

5

0

21192017

Meat and seafood

substitutes

No animals were harmed in the making of this burger