Moving Sustainable Proteins Beyond Marketplace Bottlenecks

In this post for the Sabin Center’s Climate Law blog, authors Andy Fitch & Cynthia Hanawalt present a new white paper examining how competition policy can help accelerate the transition to more sustainable consumer markets. They argue that achieving meaningful emissions reductions in sectors such as food, energy, and transportation will require not only technological innovation but also competitive markets that allow cleaner alternatives to flourish. Without effective competition policy, dominant firms can create barriers that slow the adoption of climate-friendly products.

The authors focus on the alternative proteins sector, highlighting its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production while delivering benefits for food security, public health, and supply-chain resilience. However, the growth of plant-based and cultivated protein products faces significant market challenges that can hinder their ability to compete with established animal-protein industries.

The paper identifies several sources of anticompetitive pressure. Horizontal consolidation among large meat processors can suppress emerging competitors through acquisitions or coordinated market power, while vertical integration can create supply-chain bottlenecks that restrict access to critical resources, infrastructure, and distribution channels. The authors also warn that aggressive intellectual property strategies, including patent thickets and trade-secret protections, may discourage innovation and deter new market entrants.

Finally, the authors note that complex and fragmented regulatory frameworks can disproportionately burden startups and reinforce incumbent advantages. They emphasize the importance of just-transition policies that support workers and communities affected by changes in agricultural markets. Drawing on antitrust precedents from other industries, the paper proposes competition-policy tools to address market concentration, gatekeeping, and exclusionary conduct, with the goal of fostering both robust alternative-protein markets and effective climate action.