EAT-Lancet’s meticulously modelled 2025 report this month painted a picture of a better food system. “The report is, on the face of it, full of portents of doom,” Footprint reported on Monday, but “also underscores some of the positive things that are already happening to expedite healthier food systems”.
The popularity of plant-based proteins was one of these positives. But the category has hit the ropes more recently as sales decline, innovation slows and investment dries up. ‘Why’ is the subject of heated debate, and a new analysis by the US$90-trn-backed (£68trn) FAIRR investor network suggests one of the reasons is that food companies are cooling their interest.
“Shoppers are looking for affordability, great taste and healthiness in 2025, yet food companies are investing too little in product innovation to cater for consumer expectations,” said FAIRR’s protein diversification lead Dana Wilson.
The struggles of plant-based foods are no secret, but have major food companies lost their appetite to turn things around?
Fairr’s report shows that despite the business opportunity from plant-based proteins, many global food companies are not effectively meeting consumer demand – limiting the category’s growth and weakening the resilience of food supply chains through over-reliance on animal protein.
Indeed, ‘Feeding Change: Building a Resilient Food System Through Protein Diversification’ contains results from the second year of an investor engagement with 20 of the world’s largest food retailers and manufacturers – including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Nestlé – supported by 73 investors with US$11.5trn (£8.7trn) in combined assets.
It is worth summarising the top lines:
- Although at least 70% of companies identify health and wellness as one of the most material issues to their businesses, only 30% of companies have nutrition expertise at the board level. Meanwhile, 25% of companies have no dedicated health strategy.
- Demand for fresh, whole foods is increasing and scrutiny of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is on the rise. EAT-Lancet’s latest recommendations include greater intake of plant-based foods, including vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains. However, only 3 of the 8 brand manufacturers assessed have launched a wholefood product in the past year. Three quarters (75%) are also yet to acknowledge the sustainability and nutrition potential from the substitution of animal ingredients with plant-based options.
- Companies are failing to engage their customers on their preferences for plant-based options, which has led to new launches flailing flat. Just 40% of the companies assessed had dedicated resources to increase product innovation.
European grocery retailers Carrefour and Ahold Delhaize were singled out for praise having exceeded a target of €500m in plant-based sales (now expanded to €650m) and targeted 50% plant-based protein sales by 2030, respectively. Other major players were urged to help fill the “sizable gap” in the market for wholefood, high protein and reduced meat diets.
Nestlé was also credited as being the only company to have quantified the emissions mitigation opportunity from substitution of animal ingredients with plant-based ones.
The world’s largest food company has been under scrutiny this month, having quietly quit the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, as reported by Bloomberg. Critics have suggested the company’s climate efforts might be on the wane following a change of leadership and as other food companies water down their ESG commitments. However, Footprint understands this is not the case: new CEO Philipp Navratil having internally reiterated the targets in place for net-zero, for example, and methane must remain a focus to achieve those, according to sources close to the plans.
Nestlé, which makes KitKat, Nescafé, Perrier, Häagen-Dazs and Purina pet food, has set targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, by 20% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Its scope 3 Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) targets, approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative in 2023, amount to reductions of these emissions by 50% by 2030 and 75% by 2050.
The company’s latest non-financial disclosure report shows dairy and livestock accounted for 22.41MtCO2e of scope 3 emissions from its ingredients in 2024. Methane emissions, meanwhile, have been reduced by 20.56%, to 13.08MtCO2 since 2018 (the baseline). Carbon dioxide has been cut to 24.06MtCO2e, down 20.19% on 2018 figures.
Reflecting on New York Climate Week earlier this month, Antonia Wanner, chief sustainability officer at Nestlé, maintained the company’s commitment to regenerative agriculture. “We’ve entered the era of delivery,” she wrote on social media. “Companies are moving from setting targets to driving true transformation, aligning sustainability with core business benefits.” Last month, she posted about the “strong progress” made in reducing emissions – “a 20.3% reduction one year ahead of our 2025 target. We do not rest on our laurels,” she added.
Our other stories this week include more focus on meat and plants, thanks to a study on the merits of cost-neutral taxes on food and drinks. There is also packaging news from France, where reusable packaging has reached industrial scale. And are weight loss drugs bad business but good for food waste?
