We support the development of better and cheaper animal product alternatives.

We believe that developing better alternatives to meat and eggs could greatly reduce factory farmed meat and egg production, and prevent the pain and suffering of billions of farmed animals.

Thanks to recent innovations and consumer trends toward humane and sustainable foods, the demand for plant-based alternatives has sharply increased over the past few years. This creates opportunities to sustain and accelerate this shift in new areas of innovation.

We believe that a long-term shift to alternative protein requires patience from customers and investors, as well as a healthy policy ecosystem that is focused on the displacement of animal products. To that end, we’re working to speed up alternative protein innovation and its adoption in place of animal protein, particularly in areas that are neglected by the mainstream market. 

So far, there have been promising signs of progress. Over the past few years, governments and advocates have collaborated to put forward nearly $1 billion in funding for alternative proteins through grants for research and infrastructure. Advocates have also worked with the scientific community to launch new alternative protein research centers in major innovation powerhouses like the US and Israel. And many major companies, from chains like McDonald’s and Burger King to retailers like Tesco and Aldi, have increased their alternative protein offerings, reduced prices on alt-protein products, and/or pledged to increase their total alt-protein sales.

With the alternative protein market continuing to mature, there are exciting opportunities to engage industry and governments around R&D priorities, build academic and scientific interest in key technology bottlenecks, and counter anti-competitive policies driven by industry incumbents. 

Image courtesy of Impossible Foods

Prospective Funders

If you are a funder interested in donating significantly to farm animal welfare or alternative protein work, we are happy to work with you to identify the best giving opportunities. We are eager to work in partnership with other funders and share information to help resources go to the best work. If interested, please email info@openphilanthropy.org.

Newsletter Signup

Our farm animal welfare team writes a bimonthly newsletter highlighting key issues in the farm animal welfare movement, and how funders and advocates can contribute. You can sign up here to receive the newsletter when it comes out, and view the full archive of past newsletters here.

Alternatives to Animal Products, at a glance

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