Published on: 01 January 1970
Many industries are being challenged by new players who offer more sustainable alternatives; think Oatly, Tesla, and Patagonia. Now, imagine you work for a big multinational brand – like most of the IRG participants do – how would you go about competing against the challengers, expanding your brand portfolio, pivoting from, or capitalizing on the brand heritage and strength gained over the years. Recently, some IRG participants debated how to go about the strategic growth opportunity of meat alternatives. Should you hunt for flexitarians or vegans?
We talked to Tatiana Lemos, IRG100 participant of 2022 with 14 years of Unilever and 8 years of Nestle under her belt.
“The biggest opportunity for big multinationals is not to go for vegetarians or vegans, but to offer uncompromisable alternatives for the flexitarians. This way brands enable mass consumers to flirt with meat reduction. Today 75% of consumers claim to be flexitarians, meaning they still eat meat but are open to alternatives and meat-less meals or meat-less days. Many of them are not even willing to take the burden of changing their favorite recipes, but they are open to just changing one ingredient for a product that mimics it. In this sense, going for flexitarians seems more customer-centric.”
Arguably, from a humanized growth perspective, persuading 75% of people to eat less meat instead of catering to 25% who eat no meat creates more sustainable impact. Lemos offers great food for thought on questions like – what’s the strategic growth opportunity?
Inspired by Tatiana Lemos, IRG Participant 2022,
CMO at Oritain
