Big meat is gobbling up fake meat companies

Meat alternatives at a supermarket in London. Big meat companies have been investing heavily in the alternative protein market. Photograph: Nathaniel Noir/Alamy

Big meat and food conglomerates threaten to push out smaller producers of meat alternatives in the same way they have affected other food industries, according to two recent reports.

Meat companies such as JBS and Cargill have invested heavily in plant-based proteins and laboratory-grown meats in recent years and bought out several smaller companies, according to a report published Tuesday by the non-profit Food & Water Watch and a March report from IPES-Food, a coalition of food systems experts.