Agribusiness giants show desire for vegetable meat market share

Bunge, one of the world's largest grain traders, recently announced that it has acquired a 1.6% stake in the meat startup of vegetable Beyond meat. The move appeared to be clever, since Beyond's action triggered more than 250% from the initial public offering (IPO), which occurred in May. In fact, Beyond Meat's market value of 9.9 billion is already greater than that of Bunge, a 201-year-old company with 31000 employees. It is not surprising that several high-ranking agribusiness companies want to gain participation in a rapidly expanding market. Bunge's investment is just one example of how grain traders and seed manufacturers are trying to capitalize on a market that now represents 5% of meat purchases in the United States – a portion that should triple in a decade, according to Investment Management company Bernstein. This growth would be mirrored in the rapid advancement of milk substitutes made from products such as almonds. "I really believe this will continue to attract demand," said Vince Macciocchi, president of the nutrition sector at Archer Daniels Midland, one of Bunge's biggest rivals. ADM and also the Cargill grain trader are selling processed peas and soy proteins to food companies and restaurants that use them for the manufacture of vegetable burgers, sausages, fish substitutes and other products. They are also entering the market through acquisitions and corporate partnerships, or leveraging their laboratories and research resources to help create new vegetable products for customers as food and beverage manufacturers . ADM has partnered with Brazilian Marfrig, the world's largest beef burger producer. The seed company Corteva is in studies for possible offers of vegetable seeds. Grain traders and seed manufacturers are following the leadership of Beyond Meat and another startup, Impossible Foods, which, alongside traditional meat producers such as Tyson Foods and Maple Leaf, profit from vegetable substitutes to Meat. The demand for alternatives to meat has grown as consumers add vegetable proteins to their diets for health reasons and concerns about animal welfare and the damage of livestock farming to the environment. Even so, large agricultural companies still play somewhat defensive, after all, grain traders provide animal feed to herds from all over the world, a business that would be affected if the sales of meat of vegetable origin advance at the expense of meat Animal. Already seed manufacturers, such as Bayer, sell to farmers who cultivate maize and soybeans, products that are marketed in general for the feeding of animals.