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Paper short abstract

Alternative proteins are promoted through sustainability metrics and growth forecasts, yet strong numbers have not produced stable markets. Drawing on interviews and cross-national data, this paper shows that quantification cannot replace institutional endorsement and cultural legitimacy.

Paper long abstract

Food system transformation is increasingly articulated through numbers: carbon footprints, protein efficiency ratios, market growth forecasts, and waste-reduction metrics. In the alternative protein sector, such quantification renders innovation calculable, comparable, and investment-ready. Yet favorable sustainability metrics have not translated into stable market formation. This paper examines why.

Building on a destigmatization and market formation framework, the study analyzes how firms navigate the development of alternative protein markets in contexts where legitimacy depends on institutional actors who are politically constrained from offering clear endorsement. Drawing on executive interviews and cross-national consumer data from Sweden, Italy, and Mexico, the findings show that alternative proteins operate within a distributed but uncoordinated legitimacy structure. While quantification enables actors to frame products as environmentally superior and resource-efficient, these number narratives do not resolve deeper cultural ambivalence or institutional hesitation.

The paper argues that quantification functions as a strategic resource within market formation but cannot substitute for institutional signaling and cultural alignment. Sustainability metrics make products visible in policy and investment arenas, yet widespread adoption remains contingent on trust, historically embedded food traditions, and everyday dietary practices that exceed numerical representation. In this sense, quantification foregrounds efficiency, scalability, and growth while leaving questions of legitimacy, identity, and public endorsement insufficiently addressed.

By situating alternative proteins within debates on the politics of quantification, the paper shows how numerical imaginaries both enable and constrain the coordination required for new markets to stabilize under conditions of institutional hesitation.