Incumbent entry modes and entry timing in sustainable niches: The plant-based protein transition in the United States, Netherlands, and United Kingdom

While literature on sustainability transitions has generally portrayed incumbent firms as reluctant to engage in sustainable niches and primarily employing strategies that aim to limit niche growth, practice offers many examples that contradict this. In this paper, we mobilize insights from organizational literature, and particularly the concept of entry modes and entry timing from the international business and strategy literature, to investigate incumbent firms’ engagement in sustainable niches through the introduction of new products, collaborative efforts with new entrants, the introduction of new brands, mergers & acquisitions, and investments. We focus on entry modes of incumbent firms, including food firms, meat processors, retailers, and food service firms, in meat substitute markets in the United States (US), the Netherlands (NL), and the United Kingdom (UK). We identify distinct entry mode patterns for the four firm types and that the entry modes of different types of incumbent firms vary in their timing and commitment towards the plant-based meat substitute niche. Contrary to the general consensus stemming from previous literature on incumbent engagement in transitions, our case shows that incumbents proactively engaged with niche products incentivized by economic opportunities stemming from changing consumption patterns, which preceded any regulatory action

Understanding the protein transition : The rise of plant-based meat substitutes

Even though the food system is responsible for a significant part of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a transition to a sustainable food system is needed, the growing body of literature on sustainability transitions has paid little attention to the food processing sector. We expect transition dynamics in the food processing sector to differ from the typical dynamics portrayed in transitions literature due to particularities in required technological knowledge and government intervention. To better understand dynamics in the food processing sector we apply the Technological Innovations Systems (TIS) framework to an in-depth case study of the plant-based meat substitutes industry in the Netherlands. Results illustrate that, contrary to many other transitions, consumers and changing informal institutions are the driving forces of this process. We show how strengthening cognitive and normative legitimacy can lead to growing markets for sustainable products

Alliances as system builders: On the conditions of network formation and system building in sustainability transitions

The technological innovation systems (TIS) literature and the strand of system building studies explain the role of networks in the strategic creation of favorable institutional conditions for sustainability transitions. To better understand collective system building, it is important to delve into the formation of networks composed of diverse organizations, including firms, as well as government and civil society organizations, such as alliances. In this paper, we propose an analytical framework for the study of factors that influence the formation of alliances, as well as the contribution of alliances to system building. To illustrate our analytical framework empirically, we conduct a case study of the Green Protein Alliance (GPA), a distinctive example of an alliance network aiming to promote the transition to plant-based diets in the Netherlands. The results highlight the importance of organizational motives, organizational resources, and relationships for the formation of alliances. These factors also influence the type and course of system building strategies, as well as the creation of system-level resources. Moreover, we argue that alliances between diverse types of organizations can provide opportunities to accelerate transitions by promoting the adoption of potentially beneficial innovations and sustainable consumption

Understanding the protein transition: The rise of plant-based meat substitutes

Even though the food system is responsible for a significant part of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a transition to a sustainable food system is needed, the growing body of literature on sustainability transitions has paid little attention to the food processing sector. We expect transition dynamics in the food processing sector to differ from the typical dynamics portrayed in transitions literature due to particularities in required technological knowledge and government intervention. To better understand dynamics in the food processing sector we apply the Technological Innovations Systems (TIS) framework to an in-depth case study of the plant-based meat substitutes industry in the Netherlands. Results illustrate that, contrary to many other transitions, consumers and changing informal institutions are the driving forces of this process. We show how strengthening cognitive and normative legitimacy can lead to growing markets for sustainable products

Alliances as system builders: On the conditions of network formation and system building in sustainability transitions

The technological innovation systems (TIS) literature and the strand of system building studies explain the role of networks in the strategic creation of favorable institutional conditions for sustainability transitions. To better understand collective system building, it is important to delve into the formation of networks composed of diverse organizations, including firms, as well as government and civil society organizations, such as alliances. In this paper, we propose an analytical framework for the study of factors that influence the formation of alliances, as well as the contribution of alliances to system building. To illustrate our analytical framework empirically, we conduct a case study of the Green Protein Alliance (GPA), a distinctive example of an alliance network aiming to promote the transition to plant-based diets in the Netherlands. The results highlight the importance of organizational motives, organizational resources, and relationships for the formation of alliances. These factors also influence the type and course of system building strategies, as well as the creation of system-level resources. Moreover, we argue that alliances between diverse types of organizations can provide opportunities to accelerate transitions by promoting the adoption of potentially beneficial innovations and sustainable consumption