Food & Beverages Manufacturer
Creating a MVP for an alternative
meat product
Meat industry is environmentally hazardous, where livestock causes 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions; cattle farming in particular produces methane and takes up half of the land in the U.S.Our client, asked us to help them develop a new venture in the alternative meat space
Approach
We started by speaking with a number of internal stakeholders (R&D, Marketing, Sales) and external stakeholders such as retailers, meat lovers, distribution agents, investors, startups. Our study revealed that consumers are still not comfortable with the colour of the meat and most importantly, the texture and cut of the meat although some of the early blind tasting tests suggested that they liked the taste.
The team ideated and did another round of ethnographic research to get quick reactions from end users. Based on the feedback, the team developed and detailed out 10+ different concepts for the Company to focus on. After much internal discussion we prioritized concepts and models which would be both profitable and sustainable. As such, we decided to focus on alternative meat primarily with a value proposition that will ensure that the ‘look & feel’ imitates real meat in addition to taste.
We launched two new business models in the market including a Direct to Consumer(D2C) model. We ran multiple rounds of in-market tests and evolved the offering several times, and finally settled on a model which address customers’ needs and was sustainable for the Company. The Company is now focused on expanding the brand from one region in the US to the whole country.