Significant COVID-19 Impact on Alternative Protein in Food and Beverage Industry

Posted by Rajesh on April 14th, 2021

COVID-19 Impact on Alternative Protein in Food and Beverage Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic is re-shaping everything around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost every industry around globe in positive or negative ways. The food & beverages industry is also facing the surge in the consumption globally. It has also spotlighted the meat supply and food security globally.

The supply chain disruptions, panic buying and stockpiling are observed in both developed and emerging markets. The companies are taking exciting initiatives such as ‘alternative proteins’ which makes the upgraded version of meat, dairy, plant and crop ingredients, eggs or directly from the animal cells.

The consumers are increasingly adapting to plant-based alternatives in the Spain. The mainstream supermarkets have increasing demand for the vegan meat alternatives.

For instance,

• The intake of fruits is increasing by more than 66%, vegetables increased by more than 59% and three out of 10 people are consuming more plant-based alternatives than usual.

The United States is the world leader in the alterative protein market. They have produced the high demand and innovative foods with the lower carbon emissions than the animal protein sources by avoiding risk of zoonotic diseases.

In the U.S., in first week of March, the plant-based products sales grew up by 280%. The plant-based meat alternatives are rising with the impossible burgers and beyond the meat findings in the menus of major fast food chains such as Carl’s Jr., Del taco and Burger king. The sale of fresh meat alternatives is growing by 158.3% year-on-year.

INITIATIVES

COVID-19 outbreak has affected every sector in the market which also includes protein alternatives industry. The industry has affected as the supply and demand are badly disrupted. Many companies are losing their key revenue sources as food services outlets are closed or decreased sales. Some companies have closed their production facilities to mitigate potential risks from COVID-19.

Due to the social distancing, start-ups and the producers of the protein alternatives are facing controlled access to the laboratories which are required to bring their products into the market. Shortages of research equipment’s have also increased the project timelines. Some companies are facing lack of capital so for that they need to sell their equipment to raise funds.

For instance,

• Congress could create an interagency R&D initiative which is similar to the National Nanotechnology Initiative which helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The new initiative would coordinate activities across the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other agencies.
• Ethan Brown, beyond meat has recently announced that they will begin to sell value packs and discount prices for their products which typically sell for a significant premium to traditional proteins.
• In February 2020, Cargill has launched the plant-based patty and ground products for expanding protein options for foodservices and retail customers which includes private label solutions.
• In July 2020, ADM partnered with Imagine Meats for the launch of plant-based partnership in India, as India is poised for major meat alternatives shift.
• In June 2019, Tyson foods have introduced the first plant-based and blended products along with its Raised & Rooted® brand. This initiative will make Tyson Foods the largest producer of meat in the U.S. for entering the growing segment of alternative protein with its own products .Read more…