Plant-Based Opportunities / Vegan Business Opportunities

[AndrewNC]

Imagine being one of the first people to build a following on Instagram or Snapchat before it became popular and saturated. While everyone else is trying to fight their way to the top, you area already have tens of millions of loyal followers who are more than willing to buy your products.

Wouldn't that be nice?

This is one of those opportunities...

The Opportunity

For the past 10 months, I've been immersing myself in a new market - and I've noticed a massive amount of opportunities for entrepreneurs who are looking to enter a market with a potential to be very successful ...

I originally got involved with them while doing research for a book I'm writing, and I'm starting to learn about the opportunities that are on the table to start a business in this market.

Investment group looking to invest $1.25 Trillion:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/...ies-to-ditch-meat-and-focus-on-plant-protein/

One of the largest meat producing companies begins investing in a plant-based protein company:
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8489&catId=1

Why is this a great market to be in?

The passion.

For many of you, you may have the image of vegans being "angry". After taking the time to get to know things from their point of view, I started to understand where they came from, and there is a lot of energy behind what they do.

Most people view veganism as about health - The most common replies I get when I talk about it is comparing it to the Paleo Diet.

But when you get to know the market, they do this to save the lives of animals.

Imagine for a moment that your loved ones: Your family, your kids, your closest friends, your lover - is packed up in a cage, sent to a warehouse, and murdered - and then packaged for food.

I'll keep it PG here - but there is a documentary called Earthlings that goes into detail about why they feel so passionately about their cause.

What extent would you go to in order to save your loved ones from murder?

That's the same energy that all of your customers would have to help grow your brand.

If you support this movement, they will support your company at all costs. I've seen over 100 vegans go into a supermarket with fliers petitioning the place to cary a type of vegan cheese....and then that company got instant retail distribution.

I'm sitting here in Geneva, Switzerland with my friend and she is vegan. She says that when a new vegan product comes out - everyone in her community buys it.

AKA - Free advertising

What happens when 16 Million people are so passionate about growing a moment that will grow your business?




This is more than just a trend.

They are comparing this any social justice movement (such as civl rights)- where once the change is made, it's here to stay.

It's not like Pokemon Go

So in the past, when you might have viewed animal rights activists as "angry vegans", now you can understand that the energy behind all their actions is based on passion - and your very customers will be the ones who will do anything to grow your company...because you support something many of them would do anything for.

So yeah - I'm niching down my business to work in this market in my own unique way.

• Vegetarians - don't eat meat, but they DO eat dairy (cheese/milk,etc.).
• Vegans - don't eat meat, don't eat any products that come from animals (dairy), and don't use any animal products such as leather.

Opportunities off the top of my head:

1. Cosmetic products - A lot of these products are tested on animals (which is a big no-no in the vegan communities). By solving this, there is a lot of room to grow here.
2. Food products
3. ...more to come.

I'm personal working in this market and reaping the benefits from it; and made this post so some of you can do the same.

Ride the wave while it's getting started, or one day you may look back and realize it's already too late...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[AgainstAllOdds]

Investment group looking to invest $1.25 Trillion:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/...ies-to-ditch-meat-and-focus-on-plant-protein/

I agree with most of your points, but the reason companies are investing in plant based "meats" is not because of veganism. They're investing because of the scarcity or agriculture, land, livestock, etc. The global population is getting to a point where traditional food production is not sufficient.

With that said - I agree 100% that veganism is a huge opportunity. That coupled with the change in environmental factors should lead to more demand.

Another huge emerging opportunity: foods for the ketogenic diet. It seems like that's the new "paleo".

 

[MJ DeMarco]

My question would be, which trends do you guys see in this area? Which business opportunities exist? What I have found so far:

- Vegan cosmetics
- Vegan subscription boxes
- Vegan fast food (e.g. ice cream, chocolate etc. is generally huge)
- Vegan supplements (hemp protein etc.)
- Vegan clothes

All the above.

I think more and more people are becoming aware of factory farming practices like the post @AgainstAllOdds posted above. Social media and awareness is having an impact. So much so, that I stopped eating meat at the end of the summer. (That's a pretty big change for me.)

While the health impacts are debatable, what's going on behind closed doors is not.

Sorry for digging out this old thread

No worries, glad you did.

 

[MTF]

As a vegetarian for over a decade, one of the things that I personally don't like is when vegan/vegetarian restaurants dress up their vegan/vegetarian meals as fake meat based meals. I don't eat soy or pretty much any other veg meat substitute. In fact, it grosses me out a little.

When I see stuff like "vegetarian pork ribs" in the menu, it's clear to me that the owners don't understand that vegans/vegetarians are interested in eating plant-based meals, not fake meat meals. The restaurants I enjoy the most don't label themselves as vegan or vegetarian - they label themselves as plant-based restaurants. Their menus consist of plant-based meals that don't pretend to be meat substitutes. That, to me, is how you communicate as a business that you understand that veganism/vegetarianism is not a fad, but a lifestyle.

There are surely a lot of business opportunities here, but I believe that the most sustainable ones are the ones that position themselves not as a substitute, but as an entirely different choice that also emphasizes sustainability and cares for the environment. The mere word "substitute" conveys inferior quality and a temporary choice until the "real thing" is available again.

For example, don't think vegan fish oil - think algae oil. Don't think vegan leather (which isn't that ethical) - think how to use sustainable, natural textiles. Don't think vegan cheesecake - think banana cake.

One of the things I dislike the most about vegans and vegetarians is that they think that ethics alone will convince others to follow their tracks. In reality, the only thing they accomplish by making themselves appear morally superior to non-vegans is that they piss them off. You need to employ the entrepreneurial approach to convince people to consider a plant-based lifestyle, no matter how strongly you feel about the wrongness of killing animals. As in any other business, you need to be a good salesperson first.

If you want to convince non-vegans/vegetarians to try your products, the fact that your products are vegan/vegetarian isn't that important to them. There has to be an additional, unique benefit to convince someone to visit your plant-based restaurant (eat a light, healthy meal that will make you feel energetic instead of bloated), buy your natural cosmetics (don't put shitty chemicals on your skin), or buy a car without leather seats (do away with the sticky feel and enjoy our natural, breathable fabric).

Ultimately, it's all about innovation and creating a better product. That's IMO where all the opportunities are - not in becoming yet another vegan substitute, but a completely new category vastly better than the conventional choice.

Once nudged, some people will open their eyes and start asking themselves deep questions and perhaps reconsider their choices. Businesses that will win over those people won't operate out of moral superiority - they'll sell their philosophy by positioning themselves as a unique choice, appealing to self-interest and selling real-world benefits without any judgment.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Bump.

I'm a half a year into going meatless and now that I'm immersed in this dietary lifestyle, DAMN! It is GROWING fast. (Heck if a meat guy like myself who mentions "steak" multiple times in his books can shift, I imagine less stubborn people like me will to. And I'm one stubborn MOFO.)

That said, the establishments that cater to this growing group are making money hand over fist.

I mentioned this in another thread...

FRC - Flower Child - Healthy Food for a Happy World

This place is jam packed, every minute of the day. And their meals are pretty damn expensive. While not Vegan, it is Paleo/Vegan/Healthy which is a huge growing group as it many folks are onto the BIG-AG / BIG-PHARM / BIG-HEALTH scam.

I've also noticed some of my favorite Vegan foods are always in short supply at the store, IOW, sold out.

I've also notice a lot of "vegan" option popping up at restaurants.

Then of course, there's the opportunity of VEGAN junk food, the comfort foods that post the greatest difficulty in the switch.

Things like fake cheese (I've found some that taste and feel exactly like the real stuff) pizza, and of course, cookie dough.



Yum!

Of course the opps aren't in just the vegan options themselves, but serving the industry with support.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Some interesting developments...

Burger King to take meatless ‘Impossible Whopper’ national later this year

The Impossible Burger is pretty good, had one a month ago and I thought they slipped in the real thing...

Beyond Meat is going public: 5 things to know about the plant-based meat maker

Meatless provider going public in May. I'm on the list to acquire shares but I'm not sold on their outlook. I think Impossible is a better alternative, not to mention the supply side issues.

On the same topic, Del Taco (Ticker: TACO) goes to a plant-based option at all 500+ locations (the above mentioned Beyond) ... I will be sampling their vegan offerings today. Will report back...

Nice to get some vegan fast food options (re: junk food) finally.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

This opportunity is relentless. There is no end in sight once this adopted.

What a lot of people fail to understand is that it isn't a "trend" like Atkins, Keto, or Paleo. It's a mega-trend, like the internet, like the automobile, like the outlawing of slavery or suffrage. Obviously such a drastic change won't happen in a few years, but slowly over a decade. Millions and billions stand to be made.

Millennials Driving a Rise of Veganism

This shift is happening in young people and when they have kids it will continue.

Veganism will happen. And sadly because older people are so rigid in their beliefs and Scripted ideologies, its adoption will happen one funeral at a time.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I'm not sure I agree.

I may be totally wrong here

You are totally wrong.

And this clearly shows why...

a cognitive bias that's pervasive in the diet space.

Clearly you don't understand WHY many vegans are vegan in the first place.

A diet? LOL.

For many, it's an enlightenment.

For many, it's moral.

For others, it's environmental.

For some, it's political.

And for some, it's health.

For more, it's a combination of all of it.

And those who fall into these former subgroups are permanently vegan.

No one does F*cking Paleo because of some environmental or moral implication.

As for vegans, they're NOT on a diet and one day suddenly wake up and say, "Yes, I'd like to eat me some cow titty juice with some grinded-up testicles, stomach linings, and spleens!" In other words, a vegan who is vegan beyond the health standpoint will NEVER want your cheesy hotdog.

When someone asks a vegan if they're still vegan, as if it's some fad diet, it's like asking, "Hey man, you still breathing air?" Duh, yea! I am!

In other words, you're classifying veganism as a diet. It's not.

It's the only "diet" that has cultural, political, nutritional, and moral implications.

Vegans don't expect older generations to ever "get it" (people my age) but they do expect them to die, and their mentality to die with them. IMO, the meat/dairy industry today is no better than the tobacco industry in the 70s.

I just don't see it being a mainstream way that most people live...whether that's food or overall lifestyle.

I'm sure slave owners felt the same way once the abolitionist movement started.

Mainstream adoption is a slow grind and I already see it. From more plant-based restaurants to more shelf-space at mainstream supermarkets not named Whole Foods or some hippie organic name. And I live in a town where the median age is 93.

Of course the change will be slow and subtle, not sudden. Most won't detect it for years.

But the adaptation rate by young people (millennial and younger) and the death rate are synergistically working to make it happen. The paradigm shift will be naturally selecting. And natural selection takes years, whether it's from the humanity/enlightenment/moral standpoint, or from the health side.

I am willing to concede that Veganism may be different if there's a compelling argument - but simply saying "it's a lifestyle, not just a diet" is not enough for me to buy it.

Because clearly you don't know why many vegans are vegan. That's OK. In a great irony, you are falling to a multitude of your own cognitive biases, a hindsight bias, and a recency bias, and Semmelweis reflex.

I don't mind Veganism taking over the world, but please do so in 60 yrs time when I'm probably already not around.

I love my unpretentious omnivore diet, the way humans were designed to eat.

Wow, thank you for such a profound contribution to this thread.

There's so much ignorance in this statement I'm not going to bother with it because that discussion isn't for this thread or the forum. Likewise, this forum has a "Keto" thread -- do you see me in there dropping snide remarks?

That said, I had a feeling this thread would go off the rails as people rally to defend their taste buds. So I will once again repeat: this thread is NOT to discuss your theories on veganism, it's to discuss OPPORTUNITIES arising from the shift.

Believe it's a fad?

Fine.

Point taken, we're wasting our time.

And maybe in few years (clearly because it's a fad) all the vegans suddenly will find coagulated cow breast milk to be acceptable. And by then, who knows: maybe coagulated rat breast milk will be a thing too. As long as you don't need to see what's going on behind closed doors, it's all cool.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

5 years ago, the MILK cartons got 6, 7 cooler doors.

Now they can barely grab 2 as the dairy alternatives are squeezing them out.

At my local Safeway, the dairy coolers have almost disappeared, replaced with alternatives; Soy, Oat, Coconut, Almond, etc.

This has nothing to do with Veganism, but more so that more and more adult humans realize they should be drinking breast milk from a recently force-impregnated cow, much less a human. No matter how traditional it may seem (we've done it for years!) or what the milk industry wants to advertise and promote (got Milk?), it is not natural. Folks who are listening to their body are starting to find correlation with how they feel and with what they consume.

 

[MTF]

As a life-long vegetarian/vegan, I would love to find an an gle somehow in this niche, other than selling affiliate products.

Consider that it doesn't have to be strictly revolving around the diet in itself. What kind of problems do vegetarians or vegans face? How can you help them solve them? Here are just a few ideas:

• Vegan review website - provide in-depth reviews of vegan products that are usually hard to get as vegan (for example shoes or cars).
• Vegan-friendly travel - tips on how to find vegan options abroad, how to say "no meat, fish, eggs, or milk" in foreign languages, etc.
• Vegan career guide - how can you make impact and promote veganism with your career? Which careers are anti-vegan and which are in line with its values? Sort of like the https://80000hours.org/ website.
• Eco-friendly vegan furniture and other expensive items - vegans generally make more conscious purchasing decisions (they constantly need to check the labels to make sure it's vegan-friendly). Make their life easier by developing a brand that makes everything 100% vegan or set up an e-commerce store specializing in it (make sure to do really thorough research, though, as many vegans are super strict and want to know what type of glue was used during the assembly).
  
• Vegan supplements - though this is already a pretty huge industry, but I believe there's always room for another player, particularly if you focus on a neglected subset (say, vegan endurance athletes).
  
• Food gardening tips - vegans eat a lot of produce, and many of them love buying local and organic. Why not help them by offering items to help them set up their own small garden (even if they're growing vegetables in containers at home) or provide information on how to do it with the least impact on the environment?
• Vegan-farmer platform - connect vegans with local farmers who want to sell their organic produce directly to their customers.
  
• Vegan subscription site - weekly vegan food or supplement delivery, monthly vegan boxes, etc.

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. Also, it doesn't even have to be a business exclusively for vegans. You can market it as such, but it doesn't mean that you'll limit your customers to vegans only. In the UK, they recently opened a vegan climbing gym.

 

[biophase]

Maybe. But you can't take advantage of a trend from the future.

I think anyone getting into Veganism as a business opportunity right now is smart.

I think that anyone starting a Veganism based business, and not planning an appropriate adaptation away from Veganism within the next 3 years is setting themselves up for a f*ckton of wasted time and heartache.

My former employer fell into this very trap with Paleo. They overly entrenched in a Paleo product and then dietary trends shifted within their niche and the mainstream and they were left scrambling.

AND this was knowing and accepting that Paleo would shift out of popularity at the time when it was most popular. For those in Vegan-based businesses, it's a danger of which you must really be aware.

I agree with MJ. Veganism is not a diet fad. The reason I say this is because people don't go vegan to lose weight or look better for the summer. The other diets like paleo, atkins, etc... are based on inner goals. These inner goals can be cancelled as soon as the motivation goes away. Veganism's core is more about not harming animals vs. being healthy. It's not motivated by a personal goals.

Being vegan is a moral choice more than a health choice and moral values don't just go away when the going gets tough. As more and more vegan foods are available, it will become easier and easier for people to adopt the lifestyle.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The market isn't limited to people who are vegan. My turkey munching grandma buys almond milk.

When I see stuff like "vegetarian pork ribs" in the menu, it's clear to me that the owners don't understand that vegans/vegetarians are interested in eating plant-based meals, not fake meat meals

Since we're now back to discussing the opportunity of the shift, I would agree that I would steer clear of a "vegan" designation. It can have some negative connotations depending on who hears it, and yes, can also inadvertently potentially pigeonhole your company.

To this day I correlate the word "vegan" with blandness and generally not very tasteful. (That's not really true anymore).

A "plant based" company is a better market position, and you still get a vegan stamp, like the NON-GMO stamp.

I think when a company labels itself as "VEGAN" you stand a chance to exclude a lot of folks, and maybe scare away those who are just looking for dairy or meat alternatives, but don't necessarily identify as vegan.

The dairy industry is already running scared because the cat is out of the bag as they push ridiculous lawsuits and ridiculous advocacy advertising (like GotMilk?).

Many folks are experimenting with health and discovering that dairy is a big culprit for their woes. As such, they switch to plant-based alternatives, like Almond, Cashew, Coconut, etc. In the last year, the "dairy free" ice cream cooler at my local store has doubled in size, and I live in a freaking retirement community. That means older people, folks who typically don't change habits very easily, are even joining the demand curve.

Is Dairy Failing? Problems with Dairy and The Dairy Industry
Dairy Industry Fighting Sales Decline with ‘Get Real’ Campaign | Care2 Causes

The fact is plant-based alternatives (and moves toward veganism) are a function of continued problems that plague the 1st world; obesity, heart disease, diabetes, climate change, animal welfare, resource depletion, etc. These problems aren't going away in the near future.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[G-Man]

I will make veggie burgers though. Veggie burgers were my gateway into eating vegetarian, and there's lots of good variety in recipes. Quinoa, wild rice, black bean. All good.

crumble up hillary's veggie burgers into your pasta sauce - it will change your life.

I can't do most of the fake meat stuff. I did some of it in the transition period to becoming vegetarian. But now that everything I eat is plant based, I don't ever crave sausage or bacon or anything like that. Did seitan for a while at one point. I don't recommend.

For me a big draw to eating vegan is just eating "cleaner" "real" food in general. To make the fake meats puts you back into frankenfood territory, which for me eliminates a big part of the attraction of eating vegan. Also - my wife won't let me eat soy, which seems to be in all those products. She thinks it will turn me into a woman.... which she's against.

Back to opportunities - there has to be a way to make clean snack food. i.e. - vegan snack food that isn't pretending to be something else and isn't terrible for you. I think Rhythm has started down the path, but there has to be a way to make clean convenience food. Another hole in the market is direct-to-office delivery of healthy plant based meals. I have to drive 15 minutes and fight a long line to go to the only salad place in my area.

 

[MTF]

At my local Safeway, the dairy coolers have almost disappeared, replaced with alternatives; Soy, Oat, Coconut, Almond, etc.

It's a shame that pretty much all of these alternatives aren't really healthier than regular milk. I'm not saying that dairy is better - just pointing out that most of these alternatives are sweetened with artificial sweeteners and/or other substances to make them more palatable. They're marketed as healthy drinks, but in fact many of them aren't much different than junk soft drinks.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

If you go vegan you'll spot lots of opportunities

X 10. It's insane what opportunities I see, to the point of distraction. Even own a few domains for the ideas as I might put them up on the INSIDE as INEs as a package.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

@AndrewNC -- I edited the title of this thread as it looks like it belongs in the Health forum as a discussion on Veganism when in fact, it's touching on the opportunities provided by the philosophy.

 

[Waspy]

Veganism is huge. Friend of a friend (sorry, never caught the name of the company) started selling vegan milkshakes out of her kitchen. 12 months later she has turned over £1.2m ... in a year ... hello fastlane.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The best opportunity thus far I've seen is...

Allen's Meat

"I didn't know he was THAT sensible"

If sensible means NO BOX of political thought can contain me, then yes, I'm sensible.

I have been thinking about going vegan, however, the problem is that many of the vegan "fake meat" substitues are LOADED with sodium.. I don't mind the taste, but that much sodium isn't good for us.

Eventually your cravings for this stuff will die down and you'll crave fruits/veggies and healthier replacements.

Also, I'm gonna guess that a slightly increased sodium intake in lieu of no more dairy and meat will be a net gain for your health.

 

[csalvato]

What a lot of people fail to understand is that it isn't a "trend" like Atkins, Keto, or Paleo. It's a mega-trend, like the internet, like the automobile, like the outlawing of slavery or suffrage. Obviously such a drastic change won't happen in a few years, but slowly over a decade. Millions and billions stand to be made.

Millennials Driving a Rise of Veganism

This shift is happening in young people and when they have kids it will continue.

Veganism will happen. And sadly because older people are so rigid in their beliefs and Scripted ideologies, its adoption will happen one funeral at a time.

I'm not sure I agree.

I've kept a close eye on diet trends for the past 15+ years or so, and Veganism's story arc is remarkably similar to other similar movements.

The pattern is this:

1. A small group champion the idea.
2. Mainstream talks trash about it.
3. Junk science comes forward to support the claims.
4. Non-founding experts emerge and push the agenda.
5. A tipping point is hit – the eating ideology becomes mainstream.
6. Acolytes and zealots appear where all they talk about is the eating ideology
7. Products hit shelves catering to the trend
8. The bubble pops, and mainstream loses interest.
9. A nice plateau of "lifers" emerges, which is substantially lower than the bubble.
10. In the background, another trend was rising, and is on the cusp of hitting step 5.

This has been the general outline for every dietary trend since at least the 60s when "better eating through science" emerged. Then it was low fat, high grains, artificial sweeteners, Vegetarianism, Atkins, Keto, Paleo...the list goes on and on.

I don't believe the cycle will ever stop due to fundamental human nature.

So, from your vantage, what makes Veganism any different?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Zcott]

Personally, even though I am not a vegetarian, I am excited to see how this industry is progressing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Will report back...

The soft/hard tacos (had both) was a 9 out of 10 ... might have been a 10 if it wasn't sitting in a bag for 30 minutes. I actually was pleasantly surprised.

I great example of a value skew... never been to a Del Taco before, but this slight menu change (a simple vegan option) will have them getting hundreds of dollars from me this year alone. This visit was $25.

Of course the real question is, will the incremental revenue exceed the carrying cost of the menu change and yield a good ROI? Then it's a win. Del Taco (Ticker: TACO) is publicly traded so in the next quarter's earnings report might reveal some clues.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Now it's just getting ridiculous.

There should be follow-up vegan companies who will follow the going-public trend, wouldn't they?

I think Impossible is a better tasting "burger" so maybe, although they claim they aren't going public.

There's a lot of competition entering this space, so this run-up is somewhat irrational. At this level, I think a short is a better investment. Not because I don't like the product, but because there is a lot of competition in the background brewing.

However it lends credibility that the market believes the plant-based movement isn't a fad, but a shift. Because Beyond is first, it's getting an incredible amount of play. I don't expect that to last as others move into the space; Tyson, Nestle, etc. Heck, even my Safeway has an entire freezer box filled with plant-based options, many of them NOT Beyond.

Seems like the market is treating Beyond as if they've corned the market and that their product will have little competition. It simply isn't true. First mover advantage, yes, but that's about it.

 

[Scot]

@Greg R and I are starting a plant-based fermented functional beverage made from non-GMO ancient grains business.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

As the mass production of fake meat becomes widespread, low-cost, and a commodity, meat becomes a luxury good. Flippening in the future?

Possible, and if so, years away.

In ancient times, having meat for a meal was a luxury and usually done for a celebration... i.e. go out back and slaughter the pig for Thanksgiving! If a meat eater can't tell the difference between fake and real, that's where your hypothesis becomes a real possibility.

Although I haven't had meat in nearly 2 years, Beyond Meat (the company) isn't quite there yet. However, I did try an Impossible Whopper the other night and it tasted exactly like the real thing (at least from what I remember) ... I could have given it to the big meat eater in the family who curses veganism, you know the guy who is 100 lbs over weight and takes 4 pills for diabetes ... he wouldn't have known the difference. (True story on both counts, quite funny.)

Some challenges: The alts are far more expensive and are still not very healthy. For example the Impossible Whopper had 1K+ in sodium. While some bystanders might be thinking alt meats are a healthier alternative, they're splitting hairs. Any self-reflecting vegan or vegetarian knows it's a full blown cheat meal, complete with cross contamination of meat products due to the grilling process.

For me personally, it's nice to finally have some garbage food options at a fast food restaurant. One of the challenges of being plant-based is knowing that 99% of the fast-food joints are off limits and might as well be practically invisible.

 

[B V Marlon]

Thank you for posting this information and highlighting the trend. I can see the potential for sure - in fact I was watching something on TV just the other week about some researchers in the Netherlands who were working on a process for turning vegetable protein into a meat substitute with a meaty texture. They were using contra-rotating drums combined with heat and pressure - it was fascinating. Anyone who cracks this could make a fortune, particularly the taste element.

Part of me wonders if a lot of the problems could be solved by convincing people that they don't have to eat meat every day. A nice vegetarian dish consisting of vegetables, without any meat substitutes like Quorn, can be incredibly tasty and satisfying. It would take a lot of convincing though - there are a lot of people that don't consider a meal to be a proper meal without meat.

I don't know if I could get involved in the Vegan space though - I'd fail the authenticity test for sure. I love a nice juicy steak and would seriously miss proper butter on my toast

 

[AndrewNC]

One thing I learned since joining this movement is the concept of community.

The other day, I was sitting at an Moroccan tea shop in Malaga, Spain and I sit near a girl who I start talking to - naturally I talk about my business because it's my passion, and she asked if I ever read "The Millionaire Fastlane ".

From that moment, two strangers just having small talk opened up to each other and we made great friends...because of this common community.

I noticed this form of community is even stronger in the vegan community.

Here, my friend posts on Facebook - instructing everyone she knows to request vegan items to get distribution in supermarkets.

Veganism and Fastlane community aside...How have you started incorporating the concept of forming a community in your niche?

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

One of the newsletters I read had an interesting segment on the meat industry, and how it's scared of "social media" ruining its business. In other words, there's a growing trend away from meat for health reasons.

Here's the segment:

Mean tweets about meat
At the 2016 World Meat Congress last week, speakers named social media one of thelargest threats to the meat industry.

Wait, a World Meat Congress exists? Why weren't we invited? Not cool.

Anyway, according to Global Meat News (again, this exists), social media is doing what it does best -- spreading negative news faster than PR teams can cover it up.

What’s the beef?
Public concern over the threat that meat poses to the environment, animal welfare, food safety, and overall human health are all popular topics on social that have a negative impact.

The numerous viral scandals involving horse meat burgers, mysterious “pink slime,” and a counterfeit meat market haven't helped, either.

End result: Consumers don’t trust the industry.

And did we mention there's a new burger on the block?
Lab-grown, “cultured” meats from companies like Mosa Meat and Impossible Foods promise burger alternatives that are free of animal cruelty, harmful bacteria, antibiotics, and saturated fat.

Most importantly, they claim to taste pretty darn close to the original, red juice and all. Sure, it’s not really meat. But, to quote the crowning artistic achievement, Westworld, “If you can’t tell, does it really matter?”

Bottom line, if these new guys can deliver on even half of their promises, the traditional meat industry’s in far more trouble than they are today.

And a decade from now, at the 2026 World Meat Congress, they’ll all be reminiscing about “the good old days when our biggest worry was those damn millennials on theTwitter.”​

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Don't say I didn't tell you!

Where’s the beef? Why your favorite burger chains are going vegetarian

And demand isn't going to go away.

Most people who go plant-based (usually due to animal cruelty reasons and/or health) tend to stay there. They don't go back.

 

[G-Man]

What a lot of people fail to understand is that it isn't a "trend" like Atkins, Keto, or Paleo. It's a mega-trend, like the internet, like the automobile, like the outlawing of slavery or suffrage. Obviously such a drastic change won't happen in a few years, but slowly over a decade. Millions and billions stand to be made.

Millennials Driving a Rise of Veganism

This shift is happening in young people and when they have kids it will continue.

Veganism will happen. And sadly because older people are so rigid in their beliefs and Scripted ideologies, its adoption will happen one funeral at a time.

I think vegan will become the new Kosher. When I was in grocery, everyone needed the kosher designation, even though something like 2% of the total population are Kosher. Why I asked? The answer:

Kosher people won't buy your product if it's not kosher.
Non-Kosher people will still buy your kosher product, they don't care that it's kosher.

Vegan will be the same thing. I'm currently working with my wife on a hair/skin care line, and we decided to make the extra effort to formulate the products as vegan for the same reason. Vegans won't buy it if it's not vegan. Non-vegans don't care and will still buy it if it's vegan.

Vegan will become one of those weird skin in the game factors that has a broad impact across a lot of product categories even before veganism goes truly mainstream.

 

[G-Man]

So, from your vantage, what makes Veganism any different?

IMO - the answer goes way beyond diet. Veganism, unlike paleo or atkins, but like kosher, has moral or pseudo-moral implications for people that adhere to it. We could argue all day about whether it's legitimate moral conviction that will last and be passed to further generations, or if it's the virtue signal du-jour that will fade and be replaced by another form of righteousness through consumption. I honestly don't know.

It also ties to other societal mega-trends like acceptance of global climate change, which is part of the orthodoxy of western democracies and will probably become part of the universal progressive pantheism as society becomes more post-religious.

Again, before the mob comes out, this is all IMO.