World's Largest Meat Company JBS Buys Plant-Based Brand Vivera

The world's biggest meat company has just bought one of Europe's biggest plant-based brands. Brazilian giant JBS has agreed to acquire Dutch producer Vivera in a deal with an enterprise value of €341 million (around $411 million).

JBS is described by FoodIngredientsFirst as "the world's biggest meat supplier and second-largest food producer". Vivera is Europe's third-largest plant-based producer, with three factories and a research and development center in the Netherlands, and its products are sold in 25 countries including the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

Yes, you read that right. A company built on meat has decided its future includes a lot more plants.

Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS, said in the announcement: "This acquisition is an important step to strengthen our global plant-based protein platform. Vivera will give JBS a stronghold in the plant-based sector, with technological knowledge and capacity for innovation."

The reason is simple: growth. A JBS spokesperson told FoodIngredientsFirst:

Vivera is experiencing a time of strong growth, around 25 to 30 percent year on year.

Vivera is a much-welcomed addition to our portfolio of quality brands.

JBS says the deal is "an important step in our plant-based trajectory". Vivera will be run as a standalone business, and the company confirmed that "Vivera's current leadership will be maintained." The deal has been approved by the JBS board and still needs the green light from competition regulators.

When the meat industry puts its money into plants, it's because shoppers are already voting with their wallets. And every switch helps. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates livestock are responsible for 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, while Oxford University researchers found a global move to vegan diets could cut food-related emissions by around two thirds.

We've seen the meat giants change course before. Back in 2017 the Tyson Foods CEO said the future of food might be meatless, and investors urged 16 food companies to switch from meat to plant protein. Then Beyond Meat shares surged 163% on their first day, and last year Germany's biggest sausage maker started selling more veggie than meat.

When the biggest meat company on the planet starts buying vegan brands, you know which way the wind is blowing.