It’s an investment by the JBS Company, the world’s largest protein producer and the second-largest food company in the world. Currently (as of December 2019), JBS is posting a number of job openings for “PowerPlants Co.,” and describes the venture in this way: “The PowerPlants Company is a fully-funded plant-based protein start-up in Boulder County, CO. JBS USA Holdings Inc.: Launched a line of plant-based burgers-the “Incredible Burger”-in Brazil under the Seara brand in May 2019.2019 was very active among large meat producers for launches of new brands of vegetarian, plant-based, and blended products. have either bought existing plant-based food brands, launched their own, or entered into collaborations with plant-based companies. As shown in the list below, nine of the ten largest meat producers in the U.S. Traditional Food Industryīig meat producers are investing millions of dollars in plant-based protein products. I’ll end with my take on implications for animal advocates, both as individuals and as leaders and members of animal organizations. I’ll provide a summary of current activity, context for understanding the size and speed at which they’re growing, and insights, where available, about the stated motivations of those making the financial decisions. Options for divesting from companies that engage in factory farming.Investment in plant-based companies, start-ups, and innovations.Development and sale of plant-based alternatives by traditional food companies (suppliers, retail brands, and restaurants).Over the course of two blog posts, I’ll provide an overview of three investment/divestment movements: But it’s important for animal advocates to understand, at a level below the headlines, how traditional food companies, venture capitalists, and investment brokers are responding to and driving customer desires when it comes to alternatives to animal-based foods and factory-farming dividends. Where these trends will lead and how many animal lives they will save are anyone’s guess. At the same time, there’s a small but growing number of options for professional and individual investors to more easily exclude factory farming concerns from their portfolios. Large and small companies are racing to meet an apparently surging demand for plant-based products, while venture capitalists fuel high-tech innovations for the future. Gordon Gekko, Wall Street (1987)ĭespite recent social-media flare-ups about the Impossible and Beyond burgers and how healthy or unhealthy they are, it’s clear we are witnessing a burst – if not a permanent shift – in consumer and corporate openness to meat alternatives.
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