TiNDLE Foods: Navigating the Plant-Based Sector's Hype and Reset

From Hype to Reset: What the Plant-Based Sector Needs Now At TiNDLE Foods, we’ve lived the full arc of the plant-based protein journey — from the peak of hype in 2020–early 2022 to the sobering market correction that’s followed since mid-2022. I’ve written before about why this sector didn’t take off as predicted back in 2019/2020. After over a decade in the meat industry and six years in plant-based, the reasons are becoming clear. Bottom line: While global protein demand is rising and supply pressures will mount in the decades ahead, the pain isn’t being felt by consumers today. In fact, meat remains — perhaps uniquely — a food category perceived as aspirational, healthy, and affordable. Outside of niche segments, there simply isn’t strong consumer motivation to shift away from it. That’s why I appreciated Elaine Watson’s recent piece, which goes deeper than the usual “Price, Taste, Convenience” talking points. At TiNDLE, we’ve long believed that’s not enough. I’ve written on that before — so I won’t repeat it here. What matters now is how companies respond. As Timo Recker shared in the article, we pivoted in late 2022 toward capital efficiency — not “growth at all costs.” In 2023, we cut our burn by over 50%, and Timo drove another 50% reduction after taking over in 2024. This was not easy — but it was necessary. TiNDLE still expanded across new markets, launched new channels, and built a world-class R&D center and team. Yet while we’ve grown our footprint every year since 2021, the overall category has stagnated, even declined in some regions, far from the 3–4x growth projections of 2020. I am proud that our early read and actions to adjust since late 2022 (which were far from being unanimous) together with a continuous path of burn reduction have preserved over 50% of our Series A capital while navigating this shift — something few companies in this space (or few companies backed by VC in any space) can say. What comes next? Consolidation is obviously already underway. And survival will require more than great tech or good intentions. It will require ruthless focus on consumer reality and solid sustainable financials with scale — founder passion is far from being enough. Companies must build portfolios that resonate beyond the vegan/vegetarian niche and solve real, short-term consumer needs - all of that with enough revenue and gross margins to sustain a profitable and cash generating real business. VC money for small revenue within a stagnant category is simply not an option anymore. Only then can we deliver the impact the category once envisioned. https://lnkd.in/dF4-GevE