Protein Diversification in Retail and Wholesale

Protein diversification is increasingly recognised as a promising response to the pressing challenges facing Europe’s food system. These include climate change, growing pressure on other environmental resources, and a continued reliance on imports for protein crops and oilseeds.

For the retail and wholesale sector, protein diversification could offer opportunities to strengthen environmental sustainability and enhance supply-chain resilience. Yet progress remains constrained by barriers on both the demand and the supply sides.

Protein diversification is about leveraging the benefits of all protein foods – including food of animal origin. The livestock sector plays a critical role in the food system, including in balanced diets and especially in regions where arable farming is difficult.

This report focuses on alternative proteins, which are still underdeveloped and require support to unlock their full potential and enable a well-balanced, complementary food system – both in terms of production and consumption, combining all protein sources and technology solutions. This can help
leverage the advantages of all protein sources and achieve a more sustainable and healthier balance in the food system.

This report is intended to stimulate informed discussion on protein diversification. It has been created as part of the School for Moral Ambition Fellowship. Several retail and wholesale companies and national associations contributed to its development through a voluntary survey, interviews, and feedback. These inputs reflect a diversity of perspectives, which the report seeks to represent in a balanced way. Unless explicitly stated - such as in the interviews with retail companies – the views expressed should not be attributed to any specific contributor.