Plant-based protein companies poised to expand products, distribution next year

Dec 23, 2019

VANCOUVER - When A&W started serving Beyond Meat veggie burgers at its restaurants, the fast-food chain offered many patrons their first bite of the much touted, celebrity backed plant-based patty.

In the year and a half since, Canadians continued searching for plant-based options at home and on the go.By the time A&W added a plant-based nugget in December, many fast-food chains — even long-time holdout McDonald's Canada — boasted a trendy vegetarian menu item, too.

As restaurants jumped on the plant-based protein craze this past year, the products also proliferated on grocery store shelves.

Earlier this month, Beyond Meat announced grocers across the country would start stocking its Beyond beef product, which mimics ground beef. It launched its burgers in the summer and they're now sold at more than 4,000 stores in the country.

Lightlife, meanwhile, boasts seven plant-based protein products with national distribution in Canada, and Field Roast Grain Meat Co. makes about four that are sold in many parts of the country. Both brands belong to Chicago-based Greenleaf Foods SPC, a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of Mississauga, Ont.-based Maple Leaf Foods.

Kicking off the trend, Health Canada revealed a new food guide in January recommending people "choose protein foods that come from plants more often." It minimized meat's dominant position in the previous iteration and put the meat industry on the defensive for their share of consumer plates.

As interest in alternative protein grew, backlash bubbled.

But the folks leading major plant-based manufacturers say consumers want their products and plan to add more varieties and sales points, create tastier options and lower their prices to beat out bargain meat.

A&W sparked a consumer frenzy when it debut the company's veggie burger in July 2018. The chain temporarily sold out of the patties, having under-estimated people's appetites.

That sales spike wasn't a flash in the pan, either. Demand "stayed remarkably stable" since that temporary shortage, said chief executive Susan Senecal.

A&W added a new veggie option this month — Lightlife nuggets. Only its Ontario and B.C. restaurants stock the chicken-nugget imitation, and A&W expects to sell out by the new year. Still, in a sign of the industry's strength, the company hopes eventually to offer the nuggets nationwide.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.