Vegan Burgers Shake Up New Zealand’s Meat Industry

After a recent visit to Silicon Valley, Ian Proudfoot—the global head of agribusiness at the New Zealand branch of international financial firm KPMG—identified plant-based meat and dairy alternatives as major threats to animal agriculture in New Zealand. During his trip, Proudfoot visited vegan burger company Impossible Foods and several plant-based milk companies, including Ripple Foods—where he sampled the company’s pea protein-based chocolate milk that he found was indistinguishable from organic cow’s milk. “I believe that emerging forms of plant or cultured meat, egg, and dairy products,” Proudfoot stated in a blog post on networking platform Linkedin, “together with entirely new segments of plant-centred nutrition, will become a significant component of the global food system.” Proudfoot made a cautionary statement to the animal-agriculture industry, urging those engaged in producing milk and meat to evolve. The executive also pointed to major acquisitions of plant-based companies by corporations—such as Tyson and Danone—as a trend he believes will continue in the future and result in the increased availability of meat and dairy alternatives globally.