finance

Investing in Vegan Industry

“ INVEST IN TODAY, WHAT IS GOING TO BE BIG TOMORROW!”

Name	industry	Country	Price	No. of shares	Forex	In euros
Kerry Group plc	Vegan	Ireland	119.20	7		834.4
Kellog’s	Vegan	US	51.00	8		408
The Very Good Food Company	Vegan	US	5.99	146		874.54
Else Nutrition	Vegan	US	2.83	400		1132
Burcon NutraScience	Vegan	US	1.95	563		1095.9
Beyond Meats	Vegan	US	113.12	4		452.48
Total						4797.32

Name	Last	High	Low	Change	Change %
Kerry Group plc	119.2	120.50	115.9	-1.10	0.91
Kellog’s	61.83	62.72	61.83	-0.56	0.90
The Very Good Food Company	9.30	9.5	8.56	+0.44	4.97
Else Nutrition	4.39	4.43	4.01	+0.33	8.13
Burcon NutraScience	3.03	3.16	2.74	+0.31	11.40
Beyond Meats	137.09	139.78	135.66	-2.51	1.79

Reasons

· Rising trend towards adopting plant-based diets

· Veganism; global phenomenon

· Next 10 years, the huge legacy animal-based foods industry will be completely disrupted by emerging plant-based foods companies

· Big chains introducing wide range of vegan options or moving towards vegan practices

· New competitors introduced and disrupting the traditional food and retail industries

· Big companies having to respond to the rise in veganism to stay competitive

· Vegan products appeal to non-vegans which motivates big the corporations to move with the times and cater for a larger rather than a niche market

· Big companies launched new vegan products to capitalize on demand or offer them alongside non-vegan ones

· Global meat market is worth near 1 trillion, meaning veganism still represents only a fraction of the market, but this simply allows the vegan market plenty of scope and space for growth

· Vegan society finds that just under half of the UK population is expected to enjoy some type of flexitarian-related diet by 2025, while currently less than 2% of population identifies as vegan.

· Vegan alternatives have received positive reception from meat-eaters

· Success for vegan alternatives can be particularly recognized due to its linkage to climate change and the possible health benefits associated with veganism.

· Vegan trend goes beyond food and towards the vegan cosmetics market worth 13.5b in 2018 and forecasted to grow to 18.4b in 2023 and 20.8b in 2025 according to Statista. Example: companies like Superdrug have introduced more plant-based products in response. Even companies like Tesla are making changes, by removing the leather option for seats for environmental reasons

Facts

· Survey from The Food Institute : found 65% of Generation Z Americans want a more “plant-forward” diet, while 79% choose to go meatless one or two times a week

Considerations

· Either avoid investing in companies that negatively impact the planet or invest in companies who’s goal is to do good in the planet.

· Avoid investing in “sin stocks” – weapons manufacturers/ tobacco producers/meat farmers

· Practice ‘negative screening’ when deciding where to invest.

· Veganism and ethical standards are increasing, therefore pressurizing the compliance of big companies to meet this demand, and therefore growing choice for ethical investors.

BYND – Beyond Meat *already well established plant-based meat maker

· Most well-known vegan stock

· Plant-based meat maker

· The companies meat-less products are served through fresh through various fast food chains and packaged through various grocery stores

· Can leverage its first-mover advantage, brand equity and awareness, production capabilities etc. to sustain leadership in the vegan meat market

BABYF - Else Nutrition *growth due to Gen Z consumers as future parents

· Specialized on the vegan transition in the infant nutrition market

· Offering a plant-based toddler, newborns and babies milk formula

· Research indicates the generation of consumers most plant-forward were born post-1995, and these young consumers will become parents over the next decade

· Currently only offered in North American market but competition will arrive soon

· Therefore Else will leverage first-movers advantage and specialization, remaining an important player in market

BUROF – Burcon NutraScience *actual process of protein extraction from plants

· Vegan revolution actually built on the scientific process of extracting protein from plants which is a complex process

· Big companies like Beyond Meat outsource it to plant protein suppliers

· Burcon is over 20 years in business of plant protein extraction, and developed a patented extraction process

· Having signed a partnership with Nestle (world’s largest food and beverage company), the company has recently brought online a huge production facility in Canada to produce, at scale for Nestle

VRYYF – The Very Good Food Company *higher quality plant-based meat maker

· Vegan meat company but with superior taste and texture (higher-quality)

· Relatively unknown company but has leverage huge growth in 2020, with increased sales of 220%. Company is committed to opening up 2 new production facilities to allow production for a wider scale

KYGA - Kerry group plc

· Kerry as an ingredients focused business may benefit from the second generation plant-based food options as those products include taste as a fundamental factor unlike the first generation plant-based food options

· therefore, the increased vegan boom will allow Kerry to excel by providing its technological capabilities into the supply chain

Kellogs –

· low-volatility stock for a diversified portfolio

· stability and a consistent high-yield dividend

· has its own vegetarian food brand called MorningStar, estimates suggest it generates 450m in annual revenue, 1.3 times the 355 m beyond meat

· has just launched in 2020 ‘incogmeato (line of plant-based meat products). Competition includes beyond meat, however, Kellogs may be able to meet consumer demands better due to their vast distribution network