World leading agriculture and food processing corporation and one of the world’s largest private companies, Cargill recently announced its entry into the alternative meat market. Despite the company being better known for the trading of crops and agriculture, Cargill is expected to become a leading player in the global plant-based meat market. The company already has global infrastructure and financial resources to access markets quickly and acquire immediate market share.
Cargill will phase fierce competition from various companies including plant-based-meat pioneers Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat which have achieved significant growth in recent years and successfully expanded internationally in less than a decade. More recently, large scale food manufacturing and marketing companies such as Nestlé, Tyson and Smithfield have caught on to this growing trend and have released their own plant-based products which could prove to be challenging for Cargill in terms of the ability to expand production rapidly and access market immediately.
Consumer demand will fuel growth in this market as plant-based diets become increasingly popular. The environmental and health benefits associated with reducing meat consumption will continue to attract consumers. Market growth is effected by the availability of cheaper regular meat products already on the market which deter consumers from more expensive plant-based alternatives. However, increasing market competition could cause prices to drop and increase uptake from price sensitive customers.