Meat could be a target for higher taxes given criticism of the industry's role in climate change, deforestation and animal cruelty, according to a report by Fitch Solutions Macro Research.
The idea is still its infancy and faces a lot of opposition from farming groups, but it's emerging as a trend in Western Europe, said the research group. If taxes gain traction, it could encourage more people to switch to poultry or plant-based protein and help drive the popularity of meat substitutes.
"The global rise of sugar taxes makes it easy to envisage a similar wave of regulatory measures targeting the meat industry," Fitch Solutions said. However, "it is highly unlikely that a tax would be implemented anytime soon in the United States or Brazil."