Why Tyson is participating in its own disruption
Allow me a moment to metablog about a blog by the CFO of Tyson Ventures, Tom Mastrobuoni.
Mastrobuoni recently wrote a great piece for Tyson Foods’ company blog, The Feed, delving into Tyson’s position on alternative proteins—interested and invested—and recapping his experience speaking at The Good Food Conference.
Tyson Ventures, aka the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, has invested in plant-based meat (Beyond Meat) and in clean meat (UPSIDE Foods and Future Meat Technologies). All savvy moves. That’s why we asked Mastrobuoni to speak at our conference alongside impact investors from Fifty Years, Spark Capital, and Kholsa Ventures.
Coming out of the conference, he writes eloquently about the inherent tension between the major meat industry incumbents and the innovators and change-makers seeking to disrupt the meat industry.
“I’ll go ahead and mention the elephant in the room: Not everyone at the Good Food Conference was happy to see representatives from the largest producer of animal protein in the U.S. And that’s okay…in the end, there’s common ground between us and those who don’t always support our business—the need to feed our growing world population more sustainably.”
This is *so* important. Industry incumbents have the infrastructure, the interest, and the track record for feeding the public at a massive scale. In order to catalyze rapid change, we must acknowledge the shared goal of feeding the world, not just today, but for the infinity of tomorrows that we, the species, have the audacity to imagine.
That means sustainability can’t just be a buzzword and an aspiration. For a whole host of environmental and trophic-level reasons articulated here, here, and here embracing plant-based and clean meat is one of our best bets for making sustainability a reality.
We are thrilled that this is part of Tyson’s game plan too. As Mastrobuoni points out, investing in alternative proteins is central to Tyson’s goal of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030.
He continues:
“We’re willing to participate in our own disruption by investing in alternative proteins, focusing on long-term sustainability and working to provide consumers with the products they want.”
#respect
Mr. Mastrobuoni, we’re so glad you came to The Good Food Conference. Elephant & all.
Author
Mary Allen
Mary Allen is a science writer, creative strategist, and GFI alum focused on the intersection of sustainability and emerging technology. Find more of her work at mary-allen.com.
