Marfrig, ADM Team Up To Build Plant-Based Food Brand

Brazilian meat company Marfrig and Chicago-based food processor Archer Daniel Midlands (ADM) have completed regulatory approvals and formally launched a new plant-based venture Plant Plus Foods.

According to a press release, ADM will control 30% of the new food company and will handle R&D ingredients, flavors and systems of protein production, while Marfrig will own 70% and handle finished product production and distribution. The move aligns one of the world’s largest beef packers with an ingredient and ag-tech leader that can hasten its move into the plant-based market right at a time during which category pioneers like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been hit with slumping sales.

“PlantPlus Foods is born of two companies that had a common vision to create a new venture offering a complete portfolio of delicious, sustainable plant-based foods for consumers across the Western Hemisphere,” said Marcos Molina, Marfrig founder and chairman.

On its website, two brands are currently listed under the Plant Plus Foods umbrella: Hilary’s and Sol Cuisine, both having been acquired in November. Hilary’s is a Certified B Corporation that produces veggie burgers and plant-based sausage patties, while Sol Cuisine has a multitude of frozen and refrigerated plant-based products from cauliflower wings to appetizer bites and tofu. Plant Plus was unable to confirm at the time of publication if new products or brands would be coming along with the recent announcement.

Further details about where production will take place were unavailable; however, both companies maintain production facilities in both the U.S. – including a ADM pea protein plant North Dakota – and the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

Marfrig already is one of the leading beef packers in the U.S. with its North America subsidiary company National Beef. The meat packing company operates eight beef and cattle processing facilities as well as one of the world’s largest beef patty plants in Ohio.

ADM had been making many moves into sustainable farming, food tech and healthy eating trends in recent months and years. A 2018 partnership with food tech company Perfect Day to make cow-free milk was followed in December 2021 by ADM’s investment arm co-leading a $347 million Series B investment round in cultivated meat company Future Meat Technologies. Just in the past two months, the company has launched a partnership with Bay Area-based food tech company New Culture to accelerate and development animal-free dairy products, including a mozzarella variety, and announced a deal with PepsiCo to expand regenerative agricultural practices across 2 million acres of North American land by 2030.

“Consumers today are demanding food that is good for the environment, for the body, for the mind, and for the development of a better you – while still being delicious,” said Juan Luciano, ADM chairman and CEO.

According to data released by the Plant Based Foods Association, alternative protein non-profit organization The Good Food Institute, and natural foods data firm SPINS, “U.S. retail sales of plant-based foods grew 6.2% in 2021 over a record year of growth in 2020, bringing the total plant-based market value to an all-time high of $7.4 billion.”

The collaboration from the two industry leaders comes as the plant-based meat industry experiences a shake-up in consumer demand and a mixed future outlook among producers.

Impossible Foods announced last week that it was cutting 6% of its 800-person workforce as demand for plant-based meats seems to be dwindling in the U.S. That news came just days after JBS put a hard stop on its Planterra Foods project after only two years making the OZO plant-based meat brand. The Brazilian meat giant said it would be focusing its resources on the European and Brazilian markets for vegan meats.

Maple Leaf Foods has also reassessed its resource-allocation for its vegan meat brands Field Roast and Lightlife. The Canadian meat company reduced its Greenleaf Foods plant-based protein division by 25% in August as sales slumped as well.

Despite the regression of sales growth, “the global plant-based-meat market size is expected to grow to $5.13 billion in 2022 at a CAGR of 6.4% and is expected to reach $6.59 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 6.5%,” according to data from The Business Research Company.

Some food companies are counting on that growth and investing more in the category. High-end European meat importer Giraudi Meats to rapidly accelerate adoption of Redefine Meats’ plant-based brand New-Meat in the continent. Nestlé continues to invest in animal-free technologies in an effort to reach consumers searching for more environmentally sustainable and healthy protein and dairy.