How Government Support For Plant Based Means Business

The plant-based protein industry has long argued that government intervention is necessary for the category to compete with the heavily subsidized, industrial animal agricultural sector. While the U.S. has only made some baby steps in that direction (read: introduction of the PLANT Act) – internationally, the idea is gaining some ground.

In the past month, leaders in both Denmark and South Korea have unveiled government-backed action plans detailing how they will grow the plant-based food industry in their respective countries. Looking at these plans, you can see comprehensive shifts being integrated into the food system that could actually create wholesale, generational change, from agricultural production to eating habits.

• You may remember the Danish government earmarked $178 million to advance its plant-based sector back in 2021.
• $95 million of that budget has been committed to a Plant-Based Foods fund that has already been deployed to 101 applicants researching how “diverse organic crops” can be utilized to make plant-based foods.
• Now, the rest of the capital will be put toward integrating these plant-based foods into daily life, including training chefs to prepare plant-based meals, increasing plant-based food options and education for primary school aged children, expanding initiatives to support exports of Danish-made plant-based foods and ingredients and incentivizing farmers to grow crops commonly used in plant-based food production.

“The government’s vision is for Denmark’s production and consumption of plant-based foods to inspire the rest of the world,” GFI Europe stated in a press release.

South Korea’s plan looks pretty similar, but forgoes a focus on training new cooks and places greater emphasis on supporting alternative protein research and development, promoting native crop use in new plant-based innovations, and expanding the country’s plant-based food exports on a global scale.

From Beef to Beans: why the plant-based (government-backed) push?

For Denmark – this action plan came right on schedule. In addition to budgeting for the push in 2021, Denmark also rewrote its dietary guidelines to hone a greater focus on plant-based foods.

However, currently, Denmark’s main food exports are meat, fur and dairy – far from the realm of beans, peas and tofu. The plan states that Denmark could create an estimated 27,000 jobs and bring $1.2 billion into its economy from plant-based food production. But, it remains to be seen whether this new 40-page initiative can effect change over the country’s agricultural sector and exports.

In South Korea, the plant-based industry is poised to bring significant economic growth opportunities to the country that has already produced a handful of brands including UNLIMEAT and Better Meat. Over 2.5 million of its 52 million citizens currently follow a plant-based diet and the country’s plant-based market is expected to reach $207 million by 2026, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Now we aren’t holding out for Bidenomics to go vegan anytime soon, but considering these action plans come a year after COP27 – where sustainable food systems took center stage – it seems fair to say plant-based foods may slowly become a global priority.

Looking for a refresher? Give this NOSH podcast episode a listen for more on last year’s COP27 initiatives.