Global Alternative Protein recruiting market potential is expected to grow over $1.1B by 2035
Talent bottleneck in Alternative Proteins
The Alternative Protein market is growing rapidly. According to GFI, investments in the sector have skyrocketed from $1 billion in 2019 to $5 billion in 2021. While more and more capital is finding its way into these companies, finding the right employees is becoming a limiting factor for growth. HC Insider highlighted in their article about talent trends:
"The challenge is this talent pool is small, and there is a lack of university programs specific to Alternative Protein. This means plant-based alternative companies are competing with other industries for both existing and upcoming talent who may be concerned about moving into a less established industry."
Pat Brown, the founder of Impossible Foods, said at a press conference:
“Scientists and engineers, we want you. This literally is the most urgent and important scientific engineering project in human history, and we want to get the word out about that.”
Alternative Protein recruiting market potential reaches $1.1B by 2035
Based on Boston Consulting Group’s and Blue Horizon’s report, global consumption of Alternative Protein products would grow from 13 million metric tons (MMT) in 2020 to 97 MMT in 2035. Assuming the average revenue per kg to be $3.00, the market size will grow from $39 billion in 2020 to $291 billion in 2025. To find recruiting market potential for the industry, recruiting costs of total revenue were estimated at 0.40% based on A&M’s findings. As can be seen in the figure below, the Alternative Protein recruiting market potential will reach $1.16B by 2035.
Additionally, pessimistic and optimistic scenarios were calculated based on companies’ employee growth projections. Both scenarios assumed that the number of Alternative Protein companies would grow 15% every year from 1,677 in 2022 to 10,302 in 2035 and estimated recruiting costs of average yearly salary to be at 15% ($9,000). Under the pessimistic scenario, on average, 10 employees are hired by every company in all of the years using recruiting services. The number was 30 in the optimistic scenario.
This analysis was mainly focused on Alternative Protein end-product producers. However, the industry’s supply chain goes significantly deeper. A recent report by Sitra highlighted that by 2050, the market could support nearly 3 million jobs, some of them requiring highly skilled workers with specific technical expertise.
Hiring and retaining great employees is one of the biggest challenges facing companies in the Alternative Protein industry. Here at Tälist, we help companies in the Alternative Protein industry find and keep great employees.
We work with our clients to get to know them and their needs so we can provide the best advice possible. We know that every company is different, and we want to help them find the right fit for them — whether that’s a one-off consultation or a long-term partnership. Learn more about our services here.
This analysis was conducted by Adéla Novotná and Rainer Kravets.