Shaping plant-based futures: the role of retail shelves and consumer imaginaries in plant-based manufacturers’ decisions

Abstract Plant-based futures are becoming essential landmarks for policy promises aimed at transitioning from animal-based to plant-based production and consumption. Promises often manifests in technological product solutions, such as plant-based meat imitations, with the hope that consumers will embrace a transition in their eating practices based on a simple product substitution. Manufacturers are pivotal players in such a transition, as they develop and market the products available. This study investigated the experiences and anticipations of market futures among manufacturers of plant-based food products in Denmark. Focusing on market devices in socio-material networks as well as consumer imaginaries we show how negotiations of access to shelves between manufacturers and supermarkets and visions of future consumption patterns co-shape present strategies, and operational choices within companies.