From Finance to Food Futures: My Journey to Quorn and the Future of Plant-Based Meat
At 17, I went to Russia to work and learn the language. Four years of working impressed upon me two valuable life lessons that ultimately paved the path to Plant Futures.
1. Working in the industry can amplify an individual's impact a thousandfold.
2. The value my work generates must align with my beliefs about what is valuable.
Previously, I had believed my ignorance of the food industry would translate to a lackluster career, so I chose to tread the career path my family had laid out dedicating myself to my passion for sustainable food. Fortunately, only fear of failure stood in my way and my family supported me when I finally decided to begin my journey into the food industry by applying to Minerva University’s innovative undergraduate programme. I stumbled across Plant Futures in my second semester and ever since I have been relying upon the fantastic interviews and community meet-ups they organize to keep me inspired.
I have Eric, head of community engagement at Plant Futures, to thank for instilling me with the courage to pursue internships in the alt-meat space. After speaking to him, I got tickets to Expo West and had my socks blown-off by the functionality of fungi-based meats such as Meati. I became fascinated by mycoprotein and, as I am British, it was natural that I immediately looked to Quorn for internship opportunities. Though it turned out that they do not usually offer summer internships (year-long work placements are the standard in the UK), Quorn had recently branched out into the b2b market by launching a separate company, Marlow Ingredients, and there was plenty of work in the finance department to ensure the sales of mycoprotein were profitable. After a couple daunting interviews with the CFO, I was offered a full-time role for the summer at their fermentation plant in North Yorkshire.
Upon arriving at Quorn's offices in June, my preconceived notions about what a successful meat-free company should look like were shattered. I had assumed that only a team of committed vegans would be willing to put in the hard work to make Quorn the global player it is, but the majority of my colleagues were omnivores. Quorn has done a phenomenal job of buying its 1000+ employees into the mission. The message they have crafted of non-judgement and moderation is one that resonated with all employees. I believe this was a major motivator behind the incredible dedication I saw displayed by all team members who worked to fulfill the needs of the company rather than a narrowly defined job description. I really benefited from this approach during my internship. Though I was the finance intern, I was invited to get stuck into everything - from sustainability to consumer insights!
The scale of Quorn’s operations were mind boggling. Climbing the 50-meter high bioreactors, some of which had been cultivating Fusarium Venanatum for three decades, drove home the magnitude of the company's achievements. But, despite Quorn’s mastery of fermentation, I was surprised to discover there was still room for improvement in the production process. A significant portion of my internship was devoted to a waste valorisation project with the potential for substantial long-term savings and the creation of another highly valuable food product for the business. It was eye-opening to find that significant improvements could continue to be made at a sustainability-focused company like Quorn with a decades-old production process. My takeaway is that students passionate about the food industry need never worry about a lack of meaningful work!
Indeed, I was constantly reminded by my colleagues that Quorn was ‘just a small player’. What I had seen as a behemoth in the plant-based space, saw itself as a small fish at the mercy of market currents. Quorn thinks the answer is growth, both internally and of the whole plant-based market (hence its expansion of mycoprotein sales in b2b). However, my experience at Quorn along with attending Regenerative Agriculture conferences such as Groundswell has led me to question the notion of incremental change or ‘micro consumerist bollocks’ as George Monbiot puts it.
Going forward, I will be moving my focus from technical fixes to incentive structures. I worry that any product developed with the current maxim of delivering shareholder value above all else will shortchange the environment. The B-corp movement’s aspiration to expand companies’ charters to include society and the environment as stakeholders is one I wholeheartedly ascribe to. I will be looking to them along with Miyoko Schinner, George Monbiot, Lauren Horning (my Plant Future’s mentor) and the field of systems change to guide me in my studies at the intersection of finance and sustainable food production this coming academic year.