While the plant-based protein industry deals with growing pains, cultivated
meats — and even a combination of the two — are waiting in the wings to help
future-proof our food system.
Researchers at Yonsei University
in South Korea have taken food combining to a new level: The team recently
blended cultivated beef cells with
rice
to create a new, protein-fortified rice — and they see this as a more affordable
source of protein than conventional beef, with a much smaller carbon footprint.
Turning a familiar, staple grain into “a new complete
meal” could carry
innumerable benefits for developing and food-insecure parts of the world.
“We believe there is a substantial potential market for this hybrid product,”
Jinkee Hong, a
chemical engineer and lead researcher on the Yonsei University team, told
Sustainable Brands® (SB). “This holds true not only for its development
into conventional food products but also, and perhaps more significantly, in
response to specific threats or unique environmental conditions.”
Could hybrid products, combinations of lab-grown and conventional foods, be the
future of protein? The alternative-protein industry is at a crossroads right
now. It was not too long ago that plant-based alternatives to animal-based
foods
were seen as the future of food. According to market leaders Impossible
Foods and Beyond
Meat, their burgers — according to
life-cycle analysis commissioned by the brands themselves — create “91 percent
less emissions than an equivalent
serving of beef” and require 93 percent less
land than a beef
patty, respectively.
But in 2022, years of rapid plant-based protein growth came to a screeching
halt;
and 2023 was not much
better.
The explosion of plant-based meat — which uses ingredients from nature and, via
high-tech processing, turns them into products that mimic meat — may have hit a
wall, as evidenced by the fact that high-profile Impossible and Beyond
partnerships with Dunkin
Donuts, Burger
King and Taco
Bell
mostly failed to gain traction. So, why did the movement lose steam?
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“By changing the process of production, rather than the food itself, you are
asking consumers to change their behavior for the benefit of the planet alone,”
says George Peppou, founder and CEO of
Vow — the Australian cultured meat startup behind the
Mammoth Meatball. “Despite what we’d like to
believe, those externalities don’t matter as much as we think to a vast majority
of consumers when it comes to purchasing.”
Others feel that the quality of plant-based meat never quite met the hype; while
some pointed to high
prices
and lack of consumer willingness to pay a premium for more environmentally
sustainable products in a period of high inflation. The meat industry hasn’t
helped — going all
out
to discredit plant-based products and shed doubt on their sustainability
credentials.
Health concerns over consuming highly processed
foods may also be
playing a role.
But as we know, when it comes to protein production, the status quo is
problematic. Conventionally raised meat is a major
contributor
to climate change and has an outsized impact on soil health, water and
pollution. According to Hong, investors are still looking to support new,
innovative alternatives.
“We have already received various proposals from investors and companies, and
are currently exploring multiple opportunities through these channels,” he says.
This is part of a wider trend — increasing attention, and hope, on the potential
for lab-grown alternatives to popular livestock food products. Companies
including Aleph Farms and Vow hope to build on the
market that plant-based meat brands build and create even better solutions.
“Companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have accomplished a lot in
educating the public about sustainable food choices, helping forge a path for
more sustainable food systems,” Yoav
Reisler,
Aleph’s Senior Manager of Marketing Communications, told SB.
The Israel-based company is focused on an emerging technology with a lot of
potential — cellular
agriculture,
or lab-growing meat products from animal cells vs from raising a whole animal.
The company recently received its government’s approval to sell cultivated
beef
— a first step toward wider regulatory acceptance, as cultivated-chicken
producers Upside
Foods
and Good Meat achieved in 2023 when they received
FDA and USDA approval — and Reisler says they feel their process can
provide higher-quality alternative proteins.
“We believe that cellular agriculture … is strategic in terms of providing
diners with what they want: new and exciting choices that don’t compromise on
quality,” he says.
Similarly, Peppou thinks that providing a better product will help Vow attract
more customers: “We innovate instead of imitating — and therefore offer
something that consumers will selfishly choose because it is deliberately
different.”
While lab-grown protein products are already available in a few places, such as
Singapore, mass-market expansion
is still a ways away. But despite the attention and optimism, Hong cautions that
it will take time before any of these products — whether it’s cultivated meat or
hybrid products such as beef rice — appear on your local grocery shelves.
“As for market introduction, it does not appear that lab-grown beef rice, or
similar products, will be available in the near future,” he says. “Even with
technological maturity, the clarification of regulations in different countries
and acceptance by consumers represent separate challenges.”
Thankfully, many aren’t waiting for the future of lab-grown meat; in the
meantime, many are looking to other alternatives — such as regenerative
farming
and plant-based proteins — to reduce the impact of agriculture on our planet.
But we’ll need all the tools in the toolbox to future-proof our food system.