Plant based food companies are sprouting up just about everywhere. Although, both, veggie burger patties and the new ones that imitate beef are considered American inventions, plant-based patties are now being mass produced in EU, Latin America, Canada and even the Middle East.
Why investing in plant-based protein is a good idea?
Veterans and pioneers in the industry are reinventing themselves and new brands are competing for their space on the shelves. According to the Good Food Institute™ data, “Investment in alternative protein companies was the highest ever in 2019 and is on a strong upward trend, with more investment in the first quarter of 2020 that in the all of 2019.” Of course, COVID-19 (which is a disruptor of food industries in itself) played a pivotal role in these trends when plant-based food sales increased by 279% in March of this year. The same can be said for the dairy alternatives. Nobody could have predicted such expansion of plant-based edible products. Not even a few year ago when some of the first samplings of “fake meat burgers” took place.
Yes, big names like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others, invested in plant-based food startups but we have witnessed volatility of the stocks of these companies caused by a variety of things. Consumers are still trying to gain trust in some of the plant-based brands and new statistical data is often crucial when it comes to stock success of these companies. Now with post Covid changes in the food handling and preparations, plant-based edibles have gained even more attention on the restaurant menus. Over 80% of restaurants worldwide have added at least one plant-based food product onto their menus. Steady demand for plant-based proteins reinforced investors’ confidence and we now see a second surge of investments in a variety of startups. During the first quarter of 2020, Impossible foods™ announced that they had raised another $500 Million in their series F funding round, CrunchBase reports.
Although these well-known disruptors in the food industry are still growing and expanding, they are quickly being overshadowed by some new names that are experiencing almost equal growth. Worth pointing out is also the fact that some of these powerful and promising startups are also from California which seems to be a fertile ground for agricultural and food innovation. Competition is a good thing in this industry because it does improve the quality and price of the final product in most cases. One such promising company from CA is a result of a recent merger and innovation and will become a publicly-traded company sometime this year. They go under the brand name Tattooed Chef™ and although they will not be making plant-based meats, they will supply major stores with a variety of veggies-based vegan edible products.
Where are meatless burger patties in all this?
In a statement by prnewswire, which specializes in monitoring of plant-based industry growth, plant-based burger patties market looks very promising “On the basis of Product Segment, the Burger Patties segment held the largest market share and value during the historical period because of the introduction of numerous veg burger types along with various plant-based ingredients to satisfy the desire and taste of the consumer. Also, the continual research and development by the market leaders and startups for enhancing the designing, garnishing and structure of Plant Based Meats burger patties are attracting large group of flexitarians are expected to propel market demand of Plant Based Meat burger patties” This is understandable considering the high demand for veggie and meatless burgers not only in North Americas but also in EU, China, Middle East. We now have a new and popular plant-based patty on the US market made entirely from seaweed. This product already exists in Europe and is doing very well. So, yes, constant and rapid innovation in food and agriculture tech sector looks like it is in a full swing.
Takeaway
True, there are finance experts who advise on not investing in plant-based patties now until the market shows clearer signs of growth but there are also those who advise the opposite. According to some, the growth is evident and if you do have some spare change to invest, it could bring you profits soon enough. How much would you have profited had you invested in Beyond Meat’s™ stock last year? Find out here.