The rise of plant-based products and the arrival of cell-cultured – or ‘clean’ – options as meat alternatives are trends very much on the radar of the world’s largest meat companies. Here we look at what those businesses are doing to make sure they are not missing out on alternative protein solutions.
Nestlé
The world’s largest food company, which owns a minority stake in the European meat business Herta and buys meat for a variety of ready meals and convenience-food products, has a growing presence in the market for meat alternatives.
In September 2017, the company entered the US market for plant-based food with the acquisition of Sweet Earth. In Europe, Nestlé‘s has made a series of moves to try to tap into growing demand for plant-based alternatives to meat.
In the spring of 2018, the company launched the Garden Gourmet brand in the UK but, by April 2019, had confirmed the product was no longer on sale in that market. April 2019 also saw Nestlé launch the Incredible Burger under the Garden Gourmet brand in select European markets.
In June 2020, Nestlé lost a trademark spat with US plant-based burger maker Impossible Foods and was forced to drop the Incredible Burger name, adopting the designation of the Sensational Burger instead. In Australia, the Swiss giant markets its plant-based meat products under the name Harvest Gourmet, which was launched in that market in 2019.
The Harvest Gourmet brand was launched in China in the autumn of 2020. In July 2021, Nestlé confirmed it was Nestlé “evaluating innovative technologies to produce cultured meat or cultured-meat ingredients with several external partners and start-ups”.
Nestlé said an example was its work with Israeli cell-based meat start-up Future Meat Technologies. The company said it was partnering with Future Meat Technologies to “explore the potential of cultured-meat components that do not compromise on taste or sustainability”.
Tyson Foods
The US meat giant, one of the largest companies in the sector, has perhaps done more than any of its rivals to position itself as an alternative to its core product.
Tyson Foods previously invested in US plant-based burger firm Beyond Meat and has backed two lab-based meat firms – Memphis Meats from the US and Future Meat Technologies.
In May 2018, it co-led a US $2.2m seed investment round in the Israeli firm through its Tyson Ventures arm.
It described the target of its investment as a “ground-breaking start-up developing affordable, non-GMO technology for cultured meat production”. Future Meat Technologies is a Jerusalem-based biotechnology company advancing a distributive manufacturing platform for cost-efficient, non-GMO production of meat directly from animal cells, without the need to raise or harvest animals.
The investment followed its previous minority stake in Memphis Meats, which it made through its Tyson Ventures arm.Memphis Meats, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, said it planned to use the new funds to accelerate product development.
In April 2019, it emerged Tyson had exited its investment in US firm Beyond Meat, ahead of the Beyond Burger maker’s IPO.
In June that year, Tyson launched a brand – Raised & Rooted – in the US, under which plant-based products and so-called ‘blended’ food (containing meat and plant ingredients) were sold. By the autumn of 2020, the company plans to roll out the brand to Europe, targeting the foodservice market.
In December 2020, Tyson announced it was making changes to the Raised & Rooted plant-based range it sells in the US – including pulling the hybrid burger on offer since the brand’s launch last year.
Tyson started 2021 with the unveiling of plant-based breakfast patties under its Jimmy Dean brand, products it said would help meet demand for meat-free options at breakfast.
In June of that year, the company continued its push into meat alternatives and launched its first plant-based meat brand in Asia.
JBS
In the spring of 2019, the Brazil-based meat titan, the world’s largest beef processor, unveiled a plant-based version of a burger.
JBS launched the vegan product under one of its flagship Brazilian brands, Seara. The company said the Incrível Burger Seara Gourmet burger contained soy, beets, wheat, garlic and onion.
In March 2020, JBS announced it would launch plant-based protein brand Ozo in the US via a new subsidiary, Planterra Foods. Burgers were among the products to be rolled out.
Cargill
US agri-food giant Cargill has also backed ‘clean’ meat company Memphis Meats.
In August 2017, Cargill joined a wide group of investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Virgin founder Richard Branson, in a Series A fundraising round.
“Our goal is to provide a complete basket of goods to our customers. We will do this by growing our traditional protein business, entering into new proteins, and investing in innovative alternatives, ” Brian Sikes, group leader of Cargill’s protein business, said at the time.
Cargill has continued to invest in conventional meat products but, alongside building that side of its business, has backed others offering alternatives. In May 2019, it was announced Cargill had also become an investor in Aleph Farms.
In February 2020, Cargill announced it would launch its own meat-free patties and ground products aimed at the private-label and foodservice channels.
Smithfield Foods
In August 2019, the US meat major, owned by China’s WH Group, launched its own meat-free range. Smithfield Foods rolled out meat alternatives in the form of breakfast patties, ‘meatballs’, burgers and starters, all marketed under the Pure Farmland brand.
The line-up from Smithfield covered eight soy-based products made with natural ingredients and are dairy and gluten free. Pure Farmland products were set to hit the fresh, refrigerated sections of grocery retailers in the US in mid-September 2019.
Unilever
The owner of the Unox meat brand made a splash in alt-meat in 2018 with the acquisition of the Netherlands-based The Vegetarian Butcher.
Unilever‘s sales of plant-based meat and dairy products (also including ice cream) were circa EUR200m in 2019.
In November 2020, the FMCG giant announced a target of generating annual sales of meat and dairy-alternatives of EUR1bn in the next “five to seven years”.
Announcing the target, Unilever said it had grown The Vegetarian Butcher’s presence to “more than 20,000 points of sale in 30 countries”.
In May 2021, Unilever announced a “partnership” with UK-based Enough, which produces the Abunda myco-protein using a zero-waste fermentation process where natural fungi are fed with renewable feedstock, such as wheat and corn.
Nortura
Norway’s Nortura is among those meat companies to have launched their own ranges of meat-free products. In 2017, Nortura launched a line of vegetarian alternatives to meat called MEATish.
The line included MEATish bowls, nuggets, bites and burgers. It is made from GMO-free soy beans and Norwegian eggs. The company said the products have “equivalent or higher” protein and less saturated fat than meat options.
Nortura said at the time it was one of “several” vegetable-based projects it was working on.
The Danish Crown
In August 2019, Denmark-based co-op Danish Crown announced it was to launch plant-based products. The company said it would be ready to introduce plant-based alternatives to beef burgers before the end of the year.
Danish Crown Beef already has several hybrid products composed of minced beef and root vegetables in the chilled cabinets; they will soon be joined by products made entirely of plants. Before the end of the year, a plant-based burger will be a part of our product range. ” Klostermann said the co-op was responding to consumer demand.
In autumn 2020, Danish Crown confirmed it had acquired a stake in a local business making steak products targeted at flexitarians and vegetarians.
Al-Islami Foods
Middle East manufacturer Al-Islami Foods made its meat-free debut with the launch of a plant-based burger in January 2021.
The United Arab Emirates-based company, one of the largest frozen food companies in the region, said it had launched the product in response to the growing appetite for healthier vegan options and in time for Veganuary, a global campaign that encourages people to try a plant-based diet in the New Year.
Its burger is made using sunflower protein, fava beans and peas, and is the first in a series of plant-based products that the company plans to roll out.