The competition isn't animal farming. The competition is soy beans. Replacing animals with a vegan alternative is an economic problem in that chicken is incredibly cheap to produce. And a social problem, because bacon tastes good and whole countries full of people need to be taught otherwise.
It’s not “competition” it’s another protein source being added to the market. I might think it’s a stretch to even say Beyond Burgers are competing with beef.
Adding non-animal protein sources to the market will lower the demand of animal proteins in aggregate when people consume them.
I disagree. The product is extremely similar to processed soy beans. Anything you can do with it, you can already do with soy beans. Adding what is essentially a new variety of soy bean onto the market will not affect demand for animal proteins one iota (unlike, say, Quinoa when it hit western supermarkets). Even if it can be produced cheaper than soy beans, that will mean cheaper animal feed and cheaper meat.
