- Animal Agriculture Produces 15% to 20% of Green House
Gas Emissions, More than Cars, Motorcycles, and Passenger Light
Vehicles Put Together
- In 2023, 18% of Car Sales Were Electric
Vehicles
- Plant-Based Meat Accounts for Only 1% of Meat Dollar
Sales in US Retail
- The Alternative Protein Industry Received
$635 Million
in Government Support in 2022, Compared with $40 Billion for Electric Vehicles
BOSTON, July 11,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Growing the share of alternative
proteins to half of the global protein market, including dairy,
would reduce agriculture and land use greenhouse gas emissions by
almost a third by 2050. It would mitigate 5 gigatons of CO2
equivalents annually, the equivalent of taking 50% of gas-fueled
cars off the road. However, while the electric vehicle industry
grew from 0.2% of total new car sales in 2012 to 18% in 2023, the
alternative protein share of the protein market remains relatively
small. Plant-based meat has hovered around 1% of total meat dollar
sales in US retail for the past five years. These are among the
findings of a new report being released today by Boston Consulting
Group (BCG), The Good Food Institute (GFI), and
Synthesis Capital titled What the Alternative Protein Industry
Can Learn from EV Companies.
Animal agriculture produces 15% to 20% of greenhouse gas
emissions, compared with 10% for passenger road transportation. But
the alternative protein industry received only $635 million in government support in 2022,
compared with roughly $40 billion in
direct purchase subsidies for electric vehicles. This public
commitment to electric vehicles has also stimulated significant
private investment. By contrast, alternative protein companies
raised one-eighth of the private capital of the electric vehicle
industry from 2017 to 2023.
"Achieving mass adoption of alternative protein is an
opportunity we can't afford to miss in the drive to cut emissions
and combat climate change," said Elfrun von Koeller, BCG partner
and managing director, and coauthor of the report. "There are many
lessons that the industry, as well as governments and regulators,
can learn from the successful electric vehicles sector, which also
faced early hurdles to consumer adoption and expansion. If private
companies, governments, and investors come together, they can lay
the foundation for a food system that is more sustainable, as well
as more secure."
Emma Ignaszewski, Senior
Associate Director, Industry Intelligence & Initiatives at the
Good Food Institute, said, "Electric vehicles are a powerful
climate solution that doesn't require consumers to make significant
behavioral changes. They simply offer a more sustainable swap-in
for gas-powered cars. Alternative proteins offer a strikingly
similar promise: enjoy your burger, but produced with far lower
greenhouse gas emissions than conventional meat. Securing public
funding—which has been instrumental for EV innovation—is critical
for alternative proteins to scale and compete with conventional
meat on taste and price. And competing on these drivers of consumer
choice is the blueprint for alternative proteins to help
decarbonize the food sector, just as electric vehicles can help
decarbonize the transportation sector."
Rosie Wardle, co-founder
and Partner at Synthesis Capital, said: "Government support for
alternative proteins is gaining momentum, with policymakers across
the globe recognizing the potential of the sector to generate
significant benefits, including achieving climate commitments,
ensuring food security, mitigating environmental damage, and
boosting economies. However, much more support is needed for the
sector to deliver on its potential. This new report offers insights
into how stakeholders can advance the industry, in order to create
a future where these products are no longer
'alternative.'"
The study lists several lessons that the alternative protein
industry can learn from the electric vehicle sector, including:
- Innovating to achieve parity with animal
proteins: Alternative protein producers must
innovate to create products that match animal proteins in taste,
texture, price, and convenience, making alternative proteins a
choice rather than a compromise. Similarly, successful electric
vehicle makers have made their vehicles competitive with
gas-powered cars on price, range, and model selection.
- Building a supportive public sector:
Government measures can include setting
ambitious targets for carbon reduction in the food system, enacting
regulations to aid companies in bringing innovative proteins to
market, and funding open-access research to help alternative
protein makers collectively achieve scale.
- Boosting public and private investment:
As alternative protein companies seek to secure funding, they
can apply lessons learned from the earlier experience of the
electric vehicle industry. These range from investing
to build resilient supply chains to securing both public and
private funding to conduct high-risk, early-stage
research.
Download the publication here:
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/what-the-alternative-protein-industry-can-learn-from-ev-companies
Media Contact:
Eric
Gregoire
+1 617 850 3783
gregoire.eric@bcg.com
About Boston Consulting Group
Boston
Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to
tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest
opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was
founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a
transformational approach aimed at benefiting all
stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable
competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.
Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional
expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo
and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge
management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and
digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across
the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization,
fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them
to make the world a better place.
About The Good Food Institute
The Good Food Institute
is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system
better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists,
businesses, and policymakers, GFI's teams focus on making
plant-based and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and
accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international
network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an
essential solution needed to meet the world's climate, global
health, food security, and biodiversity goals.
About Synthesis Capital
Synthesis Capital is an
investment manager based in London
(UK) and investing globally in transformative food technology
innovations, with a focus on the alternative protein ecosystem. The
Synthesis team has been investing in the food technology sector
since its nascency over a decade ago. Synthesis is currently
investing out of a $300M venture
fund, the world's largest dedicated to food technologies.
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SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)