Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 3/13/17


Protein alternatives are getting a lot of press and the competition for protein dollars has never been stiffer; consumers have plenty of protein choices.

In December, Tyson Foods announced Tyson New Ventures LLC, a $150 million fund that will invest in commercializing alternative proteins. This, just two months after Tyson took a 5 percent stake in plant-based protein maker Beyond Meat. Both moves sparked a lot of media attention.

USDA’s MyPlate food choice campaign emphasizes varying choices within the protein food group, which includes meat, poultry, seafood, beans, peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts and seeds. USDA’s advice leans toward the latter half of that list and advises at least 8 ounces of cooked seafood per week. Even the photos of protein choices on the MyPlate website are lean on red meat and long on vegetable and seafood proteins. 

At the latest Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef conference, David Hughes, emeritus professor of food marketing at Imperial College London, made this global prediction about the future fight for protein dollars, “Over the next 15 years, I think the bare-knuckled, eye-gouging, ear-pulling, slugging fight will be between industrially produced fish and industrially produced chicken…. Beef (producers) should stay away from that fight because they will get their clocks cleaned.”

Regardless of which proteins inch up or back each year in terms of per capita consumption, processors must be aware that consumers are only going to ingest so much protein on any given day and they are being directed toward an increasing array of options.

Processors must also be aware that consumers are getting pickier about their proteins, making marketing critical to winning those dollars. And while more available beef and pork are making those proteins more affordable, today’s consumers are not shopping on price alone.

There are some things processors can do.

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