Source: NYT > Business
The "no seed oil" movement has crossed from wellness discourse into operational reality, forcing quick-service restaurants and packaged food companies to source expensive alternatives like butter and beef tallow that erode already-thin margins. Legacy supply chains built on commodity seed oils—optimized for cost over the past 50 years—cannot satisfy this demand, creating margin pressure for incumbents and an opening for suppliers willing to specialize in heritage fats. Consumer conviction is outpacing the economic logic that originally centralized the industry around polyunsaturated oils, meaning dietary ideology now moves faster than food industry infrastructure can adjust.