Meat alternatives will dominate the food market, Planted Co-founder Lukas Böni says

My Wildest Prediction is a podcast series from Euronews Businesswhere we dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries. In this episode, Tom Goodwin talks to Lukas Böni, Co-Founder of the company Planted, specialising in meat alternative products.

As Veganuary comes to a close, the debate around plant-based diets continues to stir up polarising questions.

Among the several topics of debate are meat substitutes. From highly processed products like Beyond Meat to more natural staples like tofu, this food sparks controversy, dividing supporters, critics, and the uninterested. 

Global meat consumption is anticipated to rise 12% by 2033, according to the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2024-2023. Despite this trend, some people believe the tide will turn in favour of vegan alternatives, which will gradually be more influential in the food market. 

Lukas Böni, co-founder of Planted, a company producing plant-based meat, is one of those. He joins My Wildest Prediction to share the reasons behind his argument.

Why plant-based meat will revolutionise the food market

“In some years from now, our steaks are going to be better in taste and quality. (...) The Sunday roast will not be an animal roast, but a Planted roast,” Böni told Euronews. 

The entrepreneur explained that the plant-based products market will grow due to environmental necessities and the availability of tasty, quality alternatives to meat products. 

“The problem is not the animal husbandry per se, but the scale of animal husbandry,”  Böni stated.

Food systems are responsible for about 30% of the current anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, with animal products accounting for almost 60% of them, the United Nations (UN) reported. Consequently, even the UN believes that novel meat alternatives could help curb climate-harming emissions. 

Besides the environmental need for food solutions, Böni also believes that the growth of the plant-based market will be driven by its offer of tasty alternatives. 

He explained that tasty, juicy, and protein products of excellent quality will eventually be able to compete with meat. 

“Meat has a craving, but your craving is not for dead animals, it is for protein, good fat and salt,” he said. “So in the future, microbes will cater for your cravings” he concluded.

Planted's experience

Lukas Böni co-founded Planted in 2019, as a spin-off of the University of Zurich's research project. 

Since then, the company has been working to provide customers with vegan alternatives to meat products, made out of soy, rice, and beans, with a fermented mix of cultures.

The company is mostly active in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, the UK and Italy. 

However, Böni argued that it is not national traditions that make it easier or more difficult for its products to enter the market, but rather the difference between rural and urban areas: “The shift is driven by urban centres, which lead the way in this transformation.”

Find out more on our podcast My Wildest Prediction.

Additional sources • Johan Breton video editor and sound mixer