The production facility outside Jönköping is buzzing with activity. The meat grinder is filled with frozen cauliflower and carrots, which are finely chopped before being mixed with ground beef in the next step.
Every day, 2,000 Garant packages – one ton – of the new hybrid ground beef roll out of the factory. This product has managed to capture market shares in the country's Hemköp and Willys stores. Now, every 20th package of ground beef sold in stores is hybrid ground beef.
Since frozen vegetables are cheaper than meat, the final product is also cheaper. In addition to the price, Ellinor Puerto, range development manager at Dagab, points out that it looks like ground beef, tastes like ground beef, and is placed in the fridge next to other ground beef, which are additional success factors.
When it's complicated products – that people don't understand how to use – that are expensive and cumbersome, then people don't buy them. It has to be simple, people have to understand it directly and know what to do with it. And it has to taste good.
A "inflation product"
Ica has a similar product where ground beef is mixed with 30 percent pea protein. It was developed as an "inflation product," intended to be a cheaper alternative.
But during the process, we also discovered that we can create a product that adds value in another way by helping consumers eat more greens, says Mats Heljestrand, meat manager at Ica.
Ica also sells around one ton per day, a small percentage of the total volume.
But it's one of our largest news items that we've released in a long time, actually.
Both Ica and Axfood launched other hybrid products earlier that failed.
Eight years ago, we launched a ground beef with 30 percent vegetables. It didn't work at all back then. We learned from that and that's why we chose to go this way now, where we launched a product that doesn't deviate much in appearance, taste, or consistency, says Heljestrand.
Best to aim for ground beef
Ellinor Puerto explains that Axfood launched a hybrid sausage earlier. But it sold poorly and disappeared. Maybe the time wasn't ripe, or maybe it wasn't good enough.
If it's not good, then nobody wants to buy it, she states.
Now, there are more products, including hamburgers in the store. Axfood has developed frozen fish cakes, consisting of pikeperch and broad beans, as well as a herring patty, consisting of herring and broad beans.
There are many proteins that you can blend with something plant-based. It can be vegetables, legumes, or grains. But ground beef is the protein with the highest climate impact, so from that perspective, it makes the most sense to blend ground beef, says Puerto.
According to Axfood, the 650 tons of hybrid ground beef sold so far have reduced emissions by 9,100 tons of CO2 equivalents, roughly the same as the company's transport emissions for a year.
Elin Röös, who researches sustainable food systems at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, views the hybrid products positively.
It's a great way to reduce meat consumption. It's quite hard to get people to eat differently – we're very driven by habits. If you can relatively easily cook your usual favorite dishes but with an ingredient that has significantly lower climate impact, then it's very positive, she says.
"Can blend yourself"
Critics might argue that hybrid ground beef provides an alibi to continue eating meat as usual. But Elin Röös points out that "not everyone can start cooking chickpea stews," and that beef can contribute to biodiversity if cows graze on natural pastures.
It's not that all beef has to go away. In a sustainable diet, there can be a certain amount of beef if it comes from good production, she says.
So, she thinks customers can buy hybrid products with a clear conscience.
In a way, it's funny that these products exist at all. You can just buy regular ground beef and grate carrots and blend them yourself, says Elin Röös, adding:
But we're pretty lazy when we cook – including myself – so I understand that this product exists and works.
Axfood: Beef and vegetable ground beef, as well as hamburgers (25 percent carrots, 25 percent cauliflower, 50 percent beef). Frozen fish cakes consisting of half broad beans.
Coop: Hybrid ground beef developed with Protos, consisting of half beef, half lentils. Sold initially on Gotland and in Stockholm.
Ica: Household ground beef and hamburgers consisting of 70 percent beef, 30 percent pea protein.
Danish Crown: Has a hybrid ground beef consisting of half beef and a mix of parsnip, lentils, and carrots.
Animal production accounts for almost 15 percent of global emissions. Beef has the largest climate impact of the meats, followed by lamb and pork.
Each kilogram of beef causes emissions equivalent to 23-39 kilograms of CO2.
If cows eat feed made from soy, large amounts of pesticides are used. Soybean farming also drives out nature, and the competition for beans can drive up the price of one of the world's staple crops.
However, grazing animals like cows and sheep can keep pastures open, which can be beneficial for biodiversity.
