This week we cover the recent collaboration between Bel Group and Big Idea Ventures aimed at developing a new protein offer. Read what both companies bring to the table, what are their plans, and take a look at other interesting partnerships looking to expand their plant-based portfolio.
Protein Project of Bel Group and Big Idea Ventures
French dairy company Bel Group partnered up with a plant-based innovator Big Idea Ventures (BIV) to collaborate on developments of seed, plant-based, and cell-based offers. Bel Group’s steady position on the market and over a century worth of expertise in the field of dairy and food snacks will bring BIV closer to the success of their new Protein Fund. The partnership will also allow opening a Paris unit still in 2021, expanding BIV’s already existing accelerator programs in New York and Singapore. For Bel Group the cooperation will surely be beneficial in view of the company’s last year’s announcement to launch plant-based versions of its most popular cheese brands including The Laughing Cow, Babybel, and Kiri.
The Bel Group-BIV partnership is not a new trend on the market as dairy giants are more and more interested in plant-based products to meet the increasing demand from the consumers. Last year, Nestlé partnered up with Burcon and Merit in order to expand their offer with meat and dairy alternatives based on plant-derived produce. In 2018, Danone set their target revenue from their plant-based segment at € 5 billion by 2025 and a year later the company invested in US brand Halsa Foods via Danone Manifesto Ventures capital. Unilever offers dairy-free versions of its staple ingredients on the US and UK market and aims at achieving between 15% and 20% in sales derived from vegan foodstuffs.
