While plant-based proteins are undoubtedly the biggest trend of the decade, cellular-based proteins—also known as “cultivated animal proteins,” “no kill meat,” and formerly known as “lab-grown” proteins—are benefiting from a technical boom that’s bringing cellular-derived meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy to market at a breakneck speed.

TRENDPATH:

● There are two main methods of growing animal proteins without the animals: cultivating selected cells from existing animal protein, or modifying yeast/bacteria to produce select animal proteins (a.k.a. “precision fermentation”).

● Cell-derived animal proteins were recently approved by the FDA for human consumption.

● Across the Atlantic, the Italian government is backing proposed legislation to prohibit sales of “synthetic foods and cultivated meat” — not based on safety concerns but to promote natural/organic foods. But the UK legalized the development of “gene-edited” foods.

IS IT SAFE?

In spite of an across-the-board downturn in investments in alternative proteins and venture investing in general, the Good Food Institute reported that in the fourth quarter of 2022, cultivated meat and seafood companies raised $171 million for a total of $896 million in 2022, and cellular fermentation companies raised $130 million for a total of $842 million for the year¹

9-FIGURE INPUT

PROS:

Cruelty Free

Reduction in pollution

Minimal land need

Reduced habitat/rainforest loss

Lowered greenhouse gas emissions

Lower disease risk from microbial infection or zoonotic diseases

CONS:

High capital costs to build/maintain production

Scale-up remains a major challenge

Current energy costs of production high

Current CO₂ emissions comparatively high

Consumer acceptance growing but still challenging

PROS & CONS

Although a number of companies have received FDA approval for cell-based meat, poultry, and seafood, so far it has yet to land in the meat case at US supermarkets. Production costs, while falling rapidly as technology improves, still remain high.

WHERE’S THE (CELL-GROWN) BEEF?

1 Good Food Institute: Alternative protein investment update: Q4 2022