In the past couple of weeks, two countries, South Korea and Denmark, became the first to set up national action plans for plant-based foods.

Even if these are not two global leaders in the FoodTech ecosystem (while they still have very relevant ecosystems, as shown in our recent report on the Danish FoodTech ecosystem), I think these plans tell a very compelling story. Both economies are known for their exports, notably for their meat exports, in the case of Denmark.

What I see in each plan is not only the focus on having an environmental impact by reducing animal protein consumption at a national level, it is the idea of creating leaders by supporting local businesses (both legacy animal protein companies and newer plant-based “native” ones) to conquer new markets. I think this point is key: it will be much easier to create growth and export if you have at home an already significant demand for your plant-based products combined with public support (through incentives and research).

Economic arguments and promises of sustained growth for farmers could be an easier path to convince many governments worldwide to create alternative protein policies than to focus everything on environmental concerns.