Plant-based meat substitutes used to be confined to the aisles of health food stores and stands in farmers markets. However, what with the explosion in discussions around the environmental and health consequences of eating meat, plant-based foods are growing in popularity on an international level.

In this episode, Marcel Goldenberg, the head of proprietary pricing for Mintec, explores how plant-based products are priced—and how to make them more competitive. Mintec is an independent provider of global food pricing data and analysis, and has serviced brands for over thirty years with the analytics tools, budget management, and spend control they need to maximize margins and build more efficient and sustainable business practices.

“We have put out the six key factors for mass adoption: its taste and appearance, its fitness for purpose, how easy it is to buy a product, its availability to buy it, our emotional connection to it, and the cost of it,” says Goldenberg. “We want to look more at the cost factor. The plant-based product is typically more expensive than meat—the price [in the UK] is typically 60 percent more than a beef product.”

Plant-based products tend to be more expensive for a myriad of reasons. Manufacturers of plant-based products typically have costs related to the production facility, labor, shipping, overhang, packaging, and profit concerns.

“Beef has been around for so much longer. The machine has been well-oiled,” adds Goldenberg. “The raw material [of plant-based products] is actually cheaper… the plant-based product is more expensive not because of the raw material, but because of the rest of the machine. The money we spend now will support prices coming down later.”

Check out the podcast to learn more about how risk management could benefit the plant-based protein world!

Produced by Lisa Pepe

Plant-based meat substitutes used to be confined to the aisles of health food stores and stands in farmers markets. However, what with the explosion in discussions around the environmental and health consequences of eating meat, plant-based foods are growing in popularity on an international level.

In this episode, Amit Grover, the managing partner of Grover & Company, explores how global investments can drive sustainability. Grover & Company is a venture capital management firm that prioritizes impact investing in the alternative food ecosystem. The firm aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fight against animal cruelty, and support women-led ventures and sustainable supply chains.

“We’re trying to drive food security,” says Grover. “We’re looking at where the raw material is getting sourced, the elements of food processing and food production, the mechanisms that are being used to make that food, and well as the packaging and the distribution that food brands use.”

Grover & Company was launched in 2020 to join the battle against climate change, as well as to promote equal employment opportunities and gender neutrality. Ethics and sustainability are the firm’s primary focus, and the company works with a wide range of business ventures that embrace those values.

“For the first time in decades, we are seeing impact investing outperform any other traditional asset class or investment class,” adds Grover. “The demand for sustainable food, healthy food, and health-conscious food is on the rise and at record highs.”

Check out the podcast to learn more about Grover’s background and the future of impact investing!

Plant-based meat substitutes used to be confined to the aisles of health food stores and stands at farmers markets, but with the explosion in discussions around the environmental and health consequences of eating meat, they’ve found their way to the most prominent retailers. Sadrah Schadel and Mike Woliansky, co-founders of No Evil Foods, tapped into this explosion, taking their company from local farmers markets all the way to Whole Foods and Walmart.