Bruce Friedrich
Executive Director, The Good Food Institute
What do Bill Gates, Tyson Foods, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Burger King have in common? They all see a very bright future for plant-based meat.
Good for the world, and your wallet
After trying Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken strips, Mr. Gates invested in the company. “What I was experiencing was more than a clever meat substitute,” he noted. “It was a taste of the future of food.”
When Tyson Foods launched its first venture capital fund, their very first move was to co-invest in Beyond Meat alongside Mr. Gates. As Beyond Meat became more successful, Tyson invested again before finally selling their shares for a huge profit and entering the plant-based meat market themselves. As the largest meat producer in the United States, Tyson is uniquely qualified to understand this market.
At the Milken Global Summit, Google’s Schmidt declared that plant-based meat is one of six technological innovations that will improve people’s lives by at least ten-fold in the fairly near future. Why? Because of the ability of plant-based meat to give our growing population the meat they want while requiring far fewer resources and creating far less pollution and contamination than conventional meat.
And after introducing the Impossible Whopper to their 7,000 plus locations across the United States in August 2019, Burger King had their best quarter in many years.
The new food future
Right now, plant-based meat represents less than one percent of the global meat market. This is about to change, in much the same way as plant-based milk, which went from an afterthought to 13 percent of the liquid milk market in the United States.
Indeed, Barclays analysts predict that meat alternatives will shoot from less than one percent of meat sales today to 10 percent in a decade, commanding $140 billion in sales annually by 2030. Smart investors like Bill Gates and forward-looking companies like Tyson are getting in on the ground floor.
It isn’t just about money, though. There are multiple ways to help create a healthier, more sustainable, and just food supply. Talented entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, marketers, investors, and more are coming together to create a new food future.
Global meat demand is expected to grow by more than 50 percent in the coming decades. Helping to shift production to safer, more efficient plant-based meat is an opportunity to make the world a better place while making a fortune. Will you join the revolution?