Every week, Plant-based Business Expert Elysabeth Alfano breaks down the headlines with her review and analysis in the Plantbased Business Minute. Elysabeth is the founder of Plant Powered Consulting, the host of the Plantbased Business Hour and the Consulting Managing Director, vegconomist, North America. She doesn’t use a teleprompter.
Here is the Plantbased Business Minute for the week ending February 19, 2021.
You don’t need to be perfect to make an impact. Bill Gates takes to 60 Minutes to talk about reversing climate change in anticipation of his new book coming out, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. In the 60 Minutes discussion with Anderson Cooper, Gates talks about switching out animal meats for plant-based meats. He names Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. He also talks about growing microbes as a source of alternative protein.
He and Anderson then go on to taste Nature’s Fynd’s non-animal yogurt which is so delicious. I know this because I have tasted all of their products. Immediately after airing, Nature’s Fynd put out a pre-market launch of their non-animal breakfast sausage and their non-animal cream cheese which sold out in 24 hours. Indeed, Bill Gates went on to say that he couldn’t tell the difference between a Nature’s Fynd burger and animal meat.
My business bottom line is this: while Bill Gates is not really a perfect messenger, I mean he took Anderson Cooper to a burger bar to discuss climate change, so- you know, that’s a rookie mistake, he is a perfect flexitarian. And in that way this imperfect messenger is really a perfect person to drive change.
Change as in cha-ching! The Moonshot Collaborative plant-based market research company tells us that three out of four plant-based consumers are willing to spend up to 20 percent more on plant-based options. Gen X, Y, and Z- to the tune of 72 percent, 81 percent, and 92 percent respectively-are all willing to spend more. It’s probably no surprise that only 62 percent of those who identify as meat eaters are willing to spend more on plant-based foods.
My business bottom line is usually we talk about taste, price, and convenience, but really now that we have so many plant-based options and Bill Gates can’t even tell the difference, really the only thing that matters to us at this point is price. When the price is comparable or lower than meat, that’s when you’ll see the dominos fall really quickly and life will be sweet.
Sweet like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, York Peppermint Patty, Hershey’s Kisses, and Kit Kat. They all have gotten a vegan makeover. Adidas is the 1500th company to ban fur, and BMW says that when its new mini comes out, it will be one hundred percent vegan.
My business bottom line here is a couple things. First of all, to those companies that are not yet plant-based, it’s all about survival of the fittest. At this point, go plant-based or die.
My second business bottom line is to the MSNBC reporter who said that when they saw that Kit Kat was going plant-based they thought it meant that it was going to be made with green vegetables and therefore they didn’t want anything to do with it, I really suggest that you take a Home Economics class so that you can understand how chocolate is grown, my friend.
I have one question for you as I leave you for the week. More and more companies are adding plant-based lines: one line, two lines, three product lines, but at the same time they’re not reducing their meat and dairy lines. In fact, perhaps they’re even investing more in things like chicken production. At what point is a company part of the solution and no longer part of the problem? Come find me on LinkedIn to have that discussion.
This has been the Plantbased Business minute. If you would like a deeper dive into plant-based business, please subscribe to the Plantbased Business Hour wherever you get your podcasts. And if you are a small plant-based business or a large meat and dairy company and you are looking to navigate the plant-based landscape, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. My team and I at Plant Powered Consulting are here to help you with media, marketing, communications strategy and so much more.
Until I see you again next week, remember that together we are taking back our health, the health of the planet, and the health of our bottom line.
Elysabeth Alfano is the founder of Plant Powered Consulting, host of the Plantbased Business Hour and the Consulting Managing Director, vegconomist, North America.
