“We believe this is the true catalyst needed to push the category forward,” Mackay told Adweek. “A unified approach would simplify the narrative, making it more compelling.”
Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness, who declined an Adweek interview, has publicly advanced the idea of a consortium, noting that he looks at MorningStar Farms and other companies as “category compatriots.” He has complained that plant-based food marketers, his company included, haven’t built a strong enough case for themselves with consumers.
“Now, the meat industry does quite a good job against us, and they’re highly coordinated, they’re well funded, and they’re pretty loud,” McGuinness said on the United Nations’ climate change podcast in March. “So I think we can borrow a page of that book and do it as a coalition, as plant-based companies, and we need to do that very soon.”
Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown—whose former IPO darling has been fodder for the negative news cycle with its well-publicized struggles, including a 40% second-quarter U.S. revenue drop and double-digit stock slide—touched on the topic of “bringing together industry coalitions” during a recent earnings call. Through a spokesperson, he declined to elaborate.
‘100% skeptical’
Not everyone is convinced that a coalition can make a meaningful impact, or that CEO-founders will agree on tactics or positioning.
And with existing marketing messages that vary wildly—some brands go bold and aggressive, while others have a light touch—a common thread may be tough to find for any creative work.
“I’m 100% skeptical that a group would get much of anything accomplished, especially in the short term,” Rachel Konrad, former head of communications at Impossible Foods and now chief brand officer at venture capital firm The Production Board. “And the bigger the group got, the harder it would be to do an edgy, breakthrough, memorable campaign.”
While not discounting the need to act because “they’re under siege,” Konrad said, hiring a crisis PR firm and dropping a campaign might at best get “a 24-hour pop of news coverage.” But at worst, the result could be “some shitty PSA that nobody will give a crap about.”