What We’re Building at Dao Foods, and Where We’re Going

The mission is simple.

We believe in the power of innovation as a force for change. We believe that young people fundamentally care about the world. And we believe that 'game changing' entrepreneurs truly can change the world.

That’s why Dao Foods exists. To harness those forces to support the growth of a sustainable, domestic alternative protein industry in China.

The time is now. The @United Nations has called animal agriculture "the world's most urgent problem," in part because there is no pathway to achieve the Paris Climate Accord’s objectives without a massive decrease in the scale of animal agriculture. But we’re going in the opposite direction. Meat consumption worldwide has been on the rise for decades, including places like China where rising incomes and standards of living are driving new demand for protein. The average Chinese person was eating around 30 pounds of meat per year in the 1980s but that number today is nearly 140 pounds annually, less than the U.S. average of 220 pounds but a sharp increase relative to population growth.

That’s the problem. New protein could be the solution.

The aim of Dao Foods is to help entrepreneurs introduce exciting next-gen plant-based and new protein products in China, the world’s largest consumer market, to reduce the consumer demand for animal agriculture. We believe that supporting talented entrepreneurs who are targeting the 400 million millennials in China with new, exciting, and delicious next-generation proteins is a huge business opportunity with massive social impact.

What does that look like in practice?

We’re partnering with entrepreneurs building groundbreaking new protein products for the Chinese market. We lend them credibility, access, coaching and all the support we can muster.

That’s how we attract the most talented and promising entrepreneurs, working to provide new protein availability in China. As such, we work with investors who understand the opportunity of this market, share our values and want to see the same kind of impact happen that we do.

And we’re building a team focused on making the most of this opportunity. We believe that the more impact-oriented and China-savvy our team is, the more support we can provide to our entrepreneurs.

Over time, our goal is to see successful new protein businesses blossom in China, inspiring what we call Next-Generation Good Food entrepreneurs. It’s nascent now but it won’t be for long.