Could partial meat substitution help redefine sustainable food systems?

It is a legitimate question, but in the meantime, there is a more immediately actionable approach that tends to get less attention. What happens when you change meat itself, at scale, just a little? That’s the principle of hybrid meat, and the answer when you run the numbers, is significant.

Importantly, when we talk about sustainable food systems, we mean something broader than just carbon accounting. We mean food systems capable of feeding populations by 2050, reliably, affordably, and without exhausting the resources needed to keep doing so. Those two definitions of sustainability are inseparable, and any serious strategy must address both.

Small percentages, large consequences

Incremental reformulation, replacing a defined portion of conventional meat with plant-forward proteins, doesn’t make exciting headlines the same way a cultivated burger does. But the impact potential is of a different magnitude, precisely because it operates within existing consumption patterns rather than trying to change them.

Let’s consider the maths. The World Resources Institute has estimated that replacing 30% of beef with mushrooms across ten billion burgers could deliver emissions savings equivalent to removing around two million cars from the road.

The same logic could be applied, albeit at different carbon equivalents, to other meat products. This could include sausages, mince, nuggets and ready meals, the everyday formats that make up the bulk of meat consumption in mainstream markets. You do not need a dietary revolution to move those numbers; you need reformulation at volume.

This is the foundational case for partial substitution, and it is a systems-level argument as much as a food science one. Policymakers targeting Net-Zero food systems, retailers working toward protein transition commitments, and manufacturers navigating reformulation pressure under public health frameworks are all, in effect, looking for the same thing: meaningful impact that does not require consumers to change their behaviour. Hybrid protein delivers that in a way that fully alternative products, however well-formulated, cannot yet match at the scale required.

Where the ingredient science stands

The most exciting aspect for food brands and their formulation teams is that none of this is theoretical. The protein systems needed to execute partial substitution at commercial scale exist and are performing well. 

Through our distribution partnership with IFF, ACI Group supplies a range of soy and pea protein solutions developed specifically for the functional demands of meat-containing formats. IFF's SUPRO® isolated soy proteins bring gelling, emulsification and water-binding properties that maintain the structural integrity and juiciness of hybrid products through processing and cooking. For reformed and ground applications, such as burgers, meatballs, mince, RESPONSE® textured soy protein concentrates deliver a meat-like bite when hydrated, integrating cleanly into existing manufacturing lines without requiring significant capital investment.

Pea protein adds another dimension. TRUPRO® pea protein, naturally non-GMO and straightforward to label, offers a neutral flavour profile and blends well with both soy and other plant proteins, making it a versatile building block for manufacturers working across multiple product formats. Its carbon footprint, around 6.4 kg CO₂e per kg of protein against over 178 kg for beef, makes it one of the more compelling ingredients available when the brief includes an environmental performance target alongside a nutritional one.

The scalability of these systems matters every bit as much as their functionality. For reformulation to deliver at a population level, ingredients need to be consistently available, processable on standard equipment, and cost-effective enough for mainstream price points. The options on the market, including those we offer at ACI Group, are not exotic materials requiring specialist infrastructure, but robust, well-characterised proteins with established supply chains. And that is exactly what large-scale hybrid adoption requires.

A lever worth pulling

Sustainable food systems are built through accumulation. Individual product reformulations, multiplied across categories and geographies and billions of servings, add up to something very substantial. The transition does not depend on convincing a committed minority to eat differently, it depends on quietly improving what the majority already eats.

An important point to drive home is that partial substitution is not a compromise position on the road to something better. For the foreseeable future, in the markets that matter most by volume, it is the strategy most likely to deliver.

The ingredients are ready, the commercial logic is sound, and for brands and manufacturers willing to move, the opportunity to lead that shift, rather than follow it, remains very much open.