2023/10/10 by Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica Aschemann‐Witzel, Maartje D.G.H. Mulders +2 · 21 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Agricultural economics #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development #Biology #Business #Ecology #Economics #Environmental economics #Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability #Mainstreaming #Natural resource economics #Political science #Sustainability #Sustainable development
paper · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122906
published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change 197, 122906 (Elsevier BV)
openalex publication_date 2023/10/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Humanity needs food system sustainability transitions to align future food demand with the planetary boundaries. This requires stakeholders and organisations to react to each other to change their position, strategies and practices. On the basis of niche-regime interactions in sustainability transitions, we explore the case of Denmark's plant-based food business sector development through 27 company case and expert interviews. We identify four development phases and a sequence in which the different environments of society, users, business, and policy contributed to the diffusion and mainstreaming of ‘plant-based’ in food. We find that the development is characterized by an outside-in and bottom-up direction, meaning that the original trigger came from the international level as well as the consumer demand. Businesses see their key internal success factors in the interplay of their organizational set-up, their product and technology, and their strategic choices. The plant-based market is characterized by changes in terms of increasing competition, a diversification of motives among the users, and marketing communication moving away from ‘vegan/vegetarian’ and towards appealing to the mainstream, flexitarian consumer. Results highlight the importance of change and collaboration among all environments, and the crucial role of the international level as a trigger for national developments.