Tyson Foods Chief Sustainability Officer Justin Whitmore acknowledged that his company did stir up a little controversy when it invested in alternative protein companies such as Beyond Meat, Memphis Meats and Future Meat Technologies.
But during a recent podcast when he was interviewed by Food Tank President and Co-founder Danielle Nierenberg, Whitmore said the company’s excitement in animal proteins doesn’t temper its excitement in alternative proteins, and vice-versa.
In fact, he said that when it comes to the two competing types of proteins, Tyson is taking “an and, rather than an or” approach when it comes to “the future protein landscape.”
And just as Tyson Foods, in a sense, reinvented itself from being a company known for producing chicken, turkey, pork and beef products to one that is simply a protein company, other companies may revise their business models as well.
“I think you are actually going to see some food companies stepping forward in some very new and different ways, and I think people will revisit where they get their food from if that’s done correctly,” Whitmore told Nierenberg.
Plant protein demand increasing
Whitmore anticipated that more people will look to bring more vegetables into their diets and more options in how to do so. This includes plant-based protein products. So it makes sense for Tyson Foods and companies like it to pursue that market, he said.
“These sorts of businesses will continue to grow. If you think about a company like Tyson, which will move with consumers, we are positioned to deliver those products in a way that few are. So for us, it makes a lot of sense that it is part of a sustainable future of sustainable alternative proteins,” he said.
Danielle Nierenberg | Photo by Roy Graber
Another consumer base for Tyson
Nierenberg, who during the podcast revealed that she has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager, said that through Tyson Foods’ investments in plant-based protein and cell-cultured food companies, the company will be reaching consumers it hadn’t before.
“I feel a lot of the people who may have been, like, protesting Tyson Foods over the years are now going to be buyers of your product,” she said to Whitmore, pointing out that the company is now “reaching out to a consumer base that just was not there for (Tyson) before.”
Whitmore agreed, adding that there has been some “conflict.”
Some consumers, according to Whitmore, said they want to buy products such as Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger, but they don’t’ want to support Tyson Foods.
Whitmore hopes people with those viewpoints will keep an open mind.
“What’s important in this is to have some of these consumers take a second look and think about the last time that they really heard from not just Tyson but other big food players about what it is they are actually doing and making a new set of decisions about it,” Whitmore said, adding that when people learn more about Tyson’s diversification, they will see that they still have their “interests and spirits in mind.”
About Food Tank
Formed in 2013, Food Tank is a nonprofit organization that aims to build a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. According to the organization’s website, its ambitions are to educate, inspire, advocate, and create change, while spotlighting and supporting environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty.
