Big Meat Companies Bought Out Smaller Producers of Fake Meat

Large corporations are investing heavily in the alternative protein market as the latter is predicted to grow rapidly from sales in 2020 to 2025.

The big meat companies' name won't be seen on the label on most products, but these animal meat conglomerates are joining other food giants that already control about 80% of the fake meat market, The Guardian reported. For instance, companies such as Cargill - one of the largest privately held companies in the United States - and JBS - the largest meatpacking company in the world - are acquiring several smaller producers of meat alternatives, according to a major report published by the non-profit Food & Water Watch.

Associate professor Philip Howard of Michigan State University, people buying meat alternative products "may not realize they're supporting those big companies", the same companies destroying our planet.

Voting with Your Dollar

The 'acquisition frenzy' within both the lab and conventional meat sectors that continue to devour the market "shows the futility of voting with your fork," said the Food & Water Watch report.

"These companies have gotten big and powerful by using every strategy they can," said Amanda Starbuck, research director for Food & Water Watch, adding that US federal regulators are doing little to stop consolidation in the alternative meat sector and that "it could end up looking similar to the beef industry, where four companies - JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods and National Beef Packing - control 85% of the industry."

"Plant-based meat brands are hardly an alternative to the current system if they continue to entrench corporate power," she concludes.

The IPES-Food report reiterates this concern, shedding light on misleading claims that dominate public knowledge about meat and protein, and warns of the risks of falling for a failed system and "ultimately wrong solutions".

The Solution is in Diverse, Regenerative Farming

Animals belong in the pasture, not in labs or meat factories. Consumers will also benefit from a "less-but-better" approach to meat consumption through high quality meat from local farmers. With large companies likely to consolidate control of the fake meat industry, smaller producers could find it difficult to get the grains and other plants needed for meat alternatives, said Celia Homyak, co-director of UC Berkeley's Alternative Meats Lab.

"Big companies are going to capture all of these ingredients and take them away from these smaller companies that are doing the innovation," Homyak said. "They have the power of money and size."

Although the concept isn't necessarily bad, Homyak said that "we need more people to be entering this space, and obviously it will shrink down because you can't have a million players," she said. "I'm not actually that worried about the big conglomerates coming in because it shows these larger corporations think this industry is valid."

Moreover, Dan Staackmann, who founded Upton's Naturals 16 years ago, added that the industry is better off with smaller companies without corporate ties. However, Howard states that independence may be fleeting for many producers and those small and medium-sized firms would have difficulty to stay in business.

"We have economic systems that reinforce the position of the rich and powerful. Just breaking into supermarket shelves is very difficult for smaller producers," the Michigan State professor said.