Sustainability of Global Feeding. Coopetitive interaction among Vegan and Non-Vegan Food Firms

In this paper, we face the problem of global feeding sustainability and related environmental issues, with a strong attention to possible public heath improvements. Specifically, we shall consider food producers and sellers of vegan (or vegetarian) and non-vegan (or non-vegetarian) food. We propose possible quantitative agreements among different food producers, in order to develop a sustainable healthier diet for future generations, by using a mathematical co-opetitive approach and game theory. The co-opetitive approach used by the authors provides a game theory model, which could help producers of vegan food an easier entry in global market and obtain a considerable free publicity. Meanwhile, the model could allow big producers/sellers of non-vegetarian food a smooth rapid transaction to more sustainable and healthier vegan or vegetarian production/supply. In particular, we propose an exemplary complex agreement setting among McDonald's and Muscle of Wheat, a small but strongly innovative Italian food producer. We think that, on one hand, Muscle of Wheat cannot enter a global market without the help of a large globalized food producer already present in the market, on the other hand, we think equally difficult that a large static and poorly innovative producer cannot follow credibly and rapidly enough the increasing and challenging issues of global food sustainability. We remark that our game model represents an asymmetric R&D alliance between McDonald's and Muscle of Wheat. The aim of our contribution is twofold. Firstly, we explain the advantages of a vegan diet for the human health, environmental issues, food sustainability, population sustainability; in fact the model explain how global food producers could improve environmental, social and health conditions of world population. Secondly, we show how game theory normal-form and extensive-form games can be used in coopetition studies in order to increase health conditions of people, address climate change, address hunger in the world, improve welfare in a particular market. The results of the mathematical study prove that we can find win-win solutions for both firms, which are also good for world environment, human healthy, human population sustainability and climate change.