The vegan trend and the microfoundations of institutional change: A commentary on food producers’ sustainable innovation journeys in Europe

• Published in: Trends in food science & technology Vol. 107; pp. 161 - 167
• Main Authors: Saari, Ulla A., Herstatt, Cornelius, Tiwari, Rajnish, Dedehayir, Ozgur, Mäkinen, Saku J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Consumption; Dairy industry; Dairy products; Environmental impact; Experimentation; Food; Food consumption; Food processing industry; Food production; Hunger; Innovations; Meat; Niche markets; Plant-based food industry; Sustainability transition; Sustainability transitions; Sustainable consumption; Sustainable development; Sustainable innovation journey; Sustainable use; Vegan; Vegan food producer; Veganism; Vegetarian diet; Europe; Sustainable innovation journey; Sustainability transition; Plant-based food industry; Veganism; Vegan food producer
• ISSN: 0924-2244; 1879-3053; 1879-3053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.10.003

Today's meat and dairy industry has a vast environmental footprint. To reach the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) of ending hunger globally (SDG #2) and achieving sustainable consumption and production (SDG #12), this food production system needs to change. Recent years have seen the rise in popularity of the vegan or plant-based diet among consumers, which can go some way to reducing the environmental burden. This trend has motivated pioneering food producers to develop innovative vegan food products for niche markets, thus driving the sustainability transition of the food sector. This commentary tracks how three pioneering food companies have responded to the vegan trend in Europe. From the analysis of the sustainable innovation journeys of these innovative food producers, we propose a framework that presents a multi-level perspective on the socio-technical transition of the food production and consumption system. The findings show how food producers, incumbents, and new entrants progress through an early phase of planning a direction and establishing a goal, followed by pivoting and experimenting in response to changes in the business environment. This innovation journey concludes as the company moves from experimentation and learning activities onto innovation implementation. The paper postulates a model that describes how regime level changes arise from the microfoundations of the food production and consumption system, as the innovation journeys of companies drive institutional change towards sustainability. The paper identifies future research avenues to explore the sustainable development of vegan food production in more depth. •The vegan trend has been noted by pioneering innovative food producers.•Food producers test new vegan products on their sustainable innovation journeys.•Incumbent and new food producers are experimenting vegan products on niche markets.•There is a common pattern in the sustainable innovation journeys of food producers.•The vegan trend is enabling the sustainability transition in the food sector.