Cultural entrepreneurship in vegan meat markets

The rapid rise of vegan meat in the UK and many other developed countries is often described as a "food revolution". As a disruptive food technology, vegan meat fuses food science and bold social change agendas: countering climate change, improving citizens' health, and avoiding animal cruelty. Since it mimics animal meat's textures and flavour, vegan meat facilitates non-vegan consumers' transition to a low-animal-meat diet, a critical goal for reaching net-zero target in our food systems. However, vegan meat's meteoric rise has been accompanied by hypes: inflated expectations, opportunistic entries, and ruthless competition, which in time may generate disappointments (when expectations are not met) and failures (when start-ups cannot scale up fast enough to compete). The present fragmented state of the vegan meat sector also suggests inconsistent communications, exactly at a time when the nascent market needs credible and compelling value propositions, which can convince more consumers to select vegan meat and to engage with the social change agendas represented by vegan meat.

Our proposed research project aims to help address this problem by presenting an in-depth understanding of the sector's internal dynamics and external drivers and inhibitors. Since abundant studies have suggested that cultural-based connections with stakeholders are crucial to the success of moral markets (i.e., markets concerned with creating not only wealth but also social goods), we examine the roles of vegan meat entrepreneurs and other sector members in utilising cultural resources to navigate a hyped market, exploiting economic opportunities while expanding vegan meat's moral claims and entrepreneurs' value-based identities.

Importantly, we want to understand how value-driven entrepreneurs, many of whom built their companies with a view of avoiding animal cruelty and/or environmental damage (i.e., two deeply rooted problems in our food systems), deploy narratives, stories, analogies, and metaphors to create value propositions and influence consumers, media/the public, investors, and policymakers. We explore the above dynamics across two markets: 1) UK: where the food policy is passive in addressing climate change and where significant research clusters have not yet formed; 2) the Netherlands: where the food policy proactively tackles climate change and where plant-based food science is booming, with ambitious goals of leading the world's food system transition.

Our comparative approach will generate insights that can be applied in multiple ways: 1)Research papers will contribute to knowledge by presenting novel theories on how entrepreneurs use cultural strategies to navigate a hyped moral market that is rapidly mainstreaming. 2) By disseminating knowledge through our website and tailored events, we help vegan meat entrepreneurs to deeply understand the dynamics of their own sector (e.g., the motivations and strategies of other entrepreneurs and key stakeholders), stimulating collective learning, as well as creating motivations to network, associate, and participate in collective sector-building. 3)The comparative insights will create opportunities for entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the UK and Dutch markets to broaden their views and expand their strategic understanding of the sector; opportunities of cross-pollination of ideas and strategies, or even business alliances, may be possible. 4)By sharing our findings with food consultancies and media experts we dispel myths in the sector and provide credible, nuanced and in-depth understanding of entrepreneurs and stakeholders (strengths, challenges, motivations, strategies and long-term plans). This knowledge sharing will enable those food experts to more accurately report on a vitally important and rapidly expanding food sector.