Visit http://hensonshaving.com/mba or use code MBA to receive 100 free blades with your purchase of a razor.
In the late 2010s, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat captivated consumers with meatless products that looked and tasted like animal proteins. Oatly led the way as a popular, comparable non-dairy alternative to cow milk. They represented a paradigm shift in the world of consumer packaged goods during the late 2010s. With minimal differences in taste and texture, customers could substitute their beloved meat and dairy for modern, plant-based substitutes. Whether it was out of curiosity or novelty, these startups exploded.
Restaurants and beverage chains joined the hype. Retailers couldn’t stock their shelves fast enough. CPG giants like Unilever and PepsiCo fast-followed with plant-based snacks and dairy-free drinks of their own, eager not to miss out on the next F&B gold rush. It didn’t seem crazy to imagine a world where vegan startups would one day become as big as the billion-dollar meat and dairy giants like Tyson and Nestle. Disruption seemed certain, one burger patty and one glass of milk at a time.
Yet the plant-based revolution lasted just 5 years. The once high-flying Beyond Meat and Oatly have crashed and are just penny stocks these days. Both brands have shown zero signs of turning things around. They lose millions of dollars every year as their products seem to have lost their luster with retailers and consumers alike. The numbers seem conclusive. If these brands with their virality can’t survive, then how can anyone else else make it work?
Vegans and environmentalists in response, claim that the game is rigged. Meat and dairy are subsidized but their plant-based substitutes are not. Until governments provide the same benefits to vegan startups, plant-based products will forever be too expensive for regular consumption. Companies like Oatly and Beyond Meat will always fail. In this episode, we’ll look at Oatly and the dairy industry to see if their struggles are due to mismanagement, if the cards are actually as stacked against vegan companies as they say, and what a plant-based future would really look like if vegan products were treated like the essential commodity that meat and dairy are today.
🎬 Support Modern MBA: https://buymeacoffee.com/modernmba
☕️ Support Modern MBA on Patreon: https://patreon.com/modernmba
💬 Join Modern MBA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/modernmba/
🌎 Follow Modern MBA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570667949655
🕊 Follow Modern MBA on Twitter: https://x.com/modern_mba