ROO Launches into $27B Plant Based Meat Market

Major players in the faux meat market, such as Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), are redefining meat eating experience.

After a highly successful IPO in May, Beyond Meat is currently trading at US$163 per share, with an almost US$10 billion market cap as it goes head to head with the US$1.4 trillion global meat industry.

Beyond Meat’s valuation alone speaks volumes to the growth and acceptance of the industry, as the global population wakes up to the fact that consuming meat is contributing to the destruction of the environment — increasing carbon emissions, water consumption and deforestation.

Another company looking to redefine meat consumption to have a positive environmental effect is Impossible Foods.

Earlier this year, Impossible Foods raised US$300 million to take plant based meat mainstream. The company has raised over US$700 million in total, and is valued at US$2 billion, should it decide to IPO in the near to medium term.

Impossible Foods has attracted several savvy Silicon Valley billionaires, who are lining up to get onto the next wave of billion dollar unicorn plant-based meat companies.

Impossible Foods institutional investors include the likes of Khosla Ventures, Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Temasek, Sailing Capital, and Open Philanthropy Project.

Yet, it was US burger chain, Burger King that really set the cat amongst the pigeons (or the cow amongst the plant-based patties) when it began testing Impossible Foods’ plant-based burger at locations in St. Louis in April this year.

The move resulted in a strong growth in traffic, leading to the giant burger chain extending the Impossible Whopper to six more markets.

This is a burgeoning trend that is likely to accelerate over the coming years and leading innovators are only beginning to scratch the surface in this industry.

Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies Limited (ASX:ROO) is looking at having its own ag-tech influence.

ROO has just begun a planting program to examine the effects of its Root Zone Temperature Optimization (RZTO) and Irrigation by Condensation (IBC) technologies on several protein-laden crops, including peas and beans. The goal is to increase the content of leghemoglobin – also known as “heme” — a form of haemoglobin in plants and the key ingredient in what makes plant-based meats so tasty.

Of interest to current and future investors, is that ROO has already made headway by reporting yield increases of 40% on beans using Roots RZTO technology.

Putting two and two together, ROO is looking to serve up its tech to the agricultural producers supplying to the fake meat market.

Good article on the size and scope of the plant based meat market and why this is potentially a huge avenue for ROO to target, it fits with global trends towards environmental friendliness and a greener future.

Definitely a potential turnaround story from such a small market cap.