Legumes as protein-based alternatives to meat: A case study of Färsodlarna and Stacky’s

Abstract: The urgent action needed to achieve the goals within the Paris Agreement and restrict the increase of global warming to 1,5 degrees calls for adaptation across the whole of society. One way to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is to enable a transition towards a sustainable food system, from meat products to more plant-based products including the consumption of more legumes. Legumes have many positive effects, both for arable land in terms of nitrogen fixation, as well as for people’s health in terms of high bioavailability. However, many plant-based alternatives currently on the market are multi-processed, resulting in low bioavailability and a high use of non-natural additives. The aim of this study is to shed light on what enables and hinders the transition towards a sustainable food system based on a more plant-based diet of Swedish-grown crops, including legumes. Furthermore, the purpose is to explore opportunities and challenges within strategy documents that affect the transition toward more sustainable food production. Two Swedish companies, both selling products labeled From Sweden, were interviewed to increase the understanding of opportunities and challenges for them to thrive in the existing meat-dominated market. The Swedish Board of Agriculture was interviewed to increase the understanding of the policy environment. This was complemented by a content analysis of two policy documents, the Swedish Food Strategy and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. The analysis of collected data showed that the development of legume-based, From Sweden products depends on both collaboration between actors in the value chain, and educating Swedish consumers. The findings also reveal that retailers play an important role when it comes to affecting the opportunities and challenges for a transition towards more plant-based diets. In light of this, the study concludes that education, retailers and collaboration are the most important factors at play when it comes to opportunities and challenges that enable or hinder the transition towards a more sustainable food system including more high-legume plant-based diets. Often, these factors can be seen as both opportunities and challenges. However, further research is needed to better understand how these factors fit into the wider policy environment, where more key authorities beyond the scope of this study are included.