Author Topic: Vegan stock recommendations  (Read 7775 times)

Mustachio Bashio

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Vegan stock recommendations
« on: June 27, 2017, 08:34:06 AM »
An article recently came out in Top Trends in Prepared Foods 2017 stating that vegan consumers have gone from 1 to 6% of the American market since 2014 and that the non-dairy milk market is continuing to grow.  Germans have gone from 26% to 44% in that time claiming to eat a low-meat diet.  I would love to invest in Beyond Meat, but sadly I'm not Bill Gates or Biz Stone.  I'd love to capitalize on this trend, especially since it goes along with what I find important.  I'm not finding a ton of great information in looking up companies/stocks to invest in, minus Whitewave Foods that was acquired by Danone last year.  All of what I'm finding seems semi out of date.  Does anyone have any recommendations or good references to point me to? 

Cwadda

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2017, 08:52:10 AM »
Maybe there's an ETF, anyone know?

Proud Foot

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2017, 10:37:46 AM »
I think  it would be hard to invest in just the vegan companies.  I would bet most are either private companies (Beyond Meat, Blue Diamond Growers) or are part of a much larger company (Whitewave Foods - Danone, Morningstar Farms - Kelloggs). Without doing much more research I would imagine most of the big food companies do have a branch producing the vegan foods.

DarkandStormy

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2017, 01:51:41 PM »
http://investsnips.com/list-of-publicly-traded-vegan-companies/

^There's a few options there.

Personally, I am a vegan but I have no desire to have my ROI dictated by such a niche market.  A lot of vegan products actually come from larger food companies, as Proud Foot noted.

jjcamembert

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2017, 11:24:08 AM »
Long soybeans, corn, and wheat, short cattle and lean hogs?

Assuming you think the change in consumption is big enough to affect demand for these commodities.

DCJrMustachian

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2018, 11:57:48 PM »
Just thought I would share some research on the topic for other small investors.

Firstly, I agree with the notion that companies that focus on plant based foods are going to be well positioned for long-term trends.  Most of the common vegan items come from subsidiaries of huge corporations like Unilever, or are produced by companies that are privately held.  Some vegan companies like Whitewave Foods that you mentioned a while ago have merged or been acquired and are no longer traded. 

There is not a single strictly vegan food company that is publicly traded, that I have identified.  I have invested a small amount into the following stocks, because I think they are well positioned for current grocery trends:

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ SFM)
Organic Grocery Store, like a cross between Whole Foods and a local Coop.  Sells non-vegan, organic products.

Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ HAIN)
Organic and natural products, mostly vegan but includes a "Freebird" poultry line.

Tofutti Brands Inc (Over the Counter: TOFB)
A small company that focuses on dairy-free items like soy ice cream and tofu cream cheese.  Some products include eggs.  As an over the counter (pink sheet) stock there are some disadvantages: less regulatory disclosure requirements, and it can be harder to buy and sell.

I expect IPOs of newish vegan companies will happen as the market grows. Hopefully in the future, small investors will have more ability to invest in socially-responsible companies that align with their values.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2018, 12:01:20 AM by DCJrMustachian »

hodedofome

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2018, 03:41:37 PM »
Across the board, and not just relegated to vegan companies...you have a ton of private investor $$$ looking for a place to put it. Private Equity is a huge business now, and entrepreneurs find it relatively easy to get investments from them. You can either have a standalone Private Equity firm in the mix, or the Private Equity arm of a large, already established company, or even an insurance company looking for investments. There's a butt-load of money out there looking for a home, especially in a low interest rate environment.

So if there's any company out there showing promise, you can bet it won't be long before private equity comes ready to shell out the cash. They are either acquired by an established company, or they stay private much longer than in the past because they don't need the $$$ from an IPO. This affects us small investors considerably because the opportunities we had in the 80s and 90s aren't there.

As an example, Netflix and Amazon IPO'd in the late '90s and have handsomely rewarded any small investors lucky enough to hold on all these years. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and others would have done the same thing years ago, but they had so much private equity cash they didn't need to. They held on until the insiders were ready to sell off. IPO's now become about the private equity and early investors cashing out. Which means they think some of the best years of the investment are behind them, and they want to dump their shares on the public.   

You and I are left with the scraps.

ChpBstrd

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Re: Vegan stock recommendations
« Reply #7 on: April 04, 2018, 08:48:12 PM »
It's a highly fragmented market with low barriers to entry, lots of competitors, and large grocery chains that can bargain the shirts off the backs of their suppliers. I don't need to do a Porter's 5 Forces analysis to see this isn't an attractive market.

As with the organic food trend, it will likely be the grocery stores and online stores that collect the bulk of the profits. The big consumer brands like Heinz, Kraft, General Mills, Kellogs, Nestle, and the various meat/sausage brands will be the ones to lose, as they eventually pay nosebleed prices to acquire the winners in this shakeout even as their own brand values evaporate. Or they might just leverage up, extract the last dividends, and fade away.

When/If Kroger gets some sense, their specialty food section will be as big as their Twinkie aisle.