A Taste of What’s to Come?

A growing number of countries are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions. And to accomplish this, many are turning their focus to the livestock industry, which represents ~14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, we’re looking at the two main alternatives to conventional meat: plant-based and lab-grown.

🌱 Plant-ing the flag... The plant-based meat industry is still relatively young, with its two major players – Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods – launching their first products within the past decade. Nearly 10% of US restaurants currently offer plant-based meat alternatives, per a report from AI platform Tastewise.

• The most popular plant-based meat products have been shown to produce up to 90% fewer GHG emissions than beef, while reducing land and water usage by similar amounts. They also require slightly less energy to produce.

✋ Yes, but… Many investors aren’t convinced. Beyond Meat is currently the most-shorted company among the top 1,000 US firms, and its stock is down 60+% since July.

And this past week, Impossible Foods – which is still privately held – dismissed more than a dozen employees as part of an internal reorganization.

• “In the past six months, unexpectedly, there has been a rapid deceleration in the category growth rates of plant-based protein,” said Michael H. McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods.

🔬 Back to the lab... This brings us to cell-cultured meat. Using a bioreactor filled with nutrient-rich broth and cell-growth stimulants, scientists can create edible pieces of meat with just a few cells from a live animal.

• All different kinds of stem cells can be grown in a lab, meaning firms can create meats from exotic or endangered species like kangaroos, yaks, giraffes, or bluefin tuna.

✋ Yes, but… Some experts say cultured meats and fish don’t have the full flavor of their conventional counterparts. In real life, animals have muscles that flex and a specific gut biome that influences their development – none of which occurs in a lab.

• It’s also significantly more expensive than regular meat, with a wholesale price around $17 to $23 per pound (which translates to $50+ after markups). Many advocates argue that innovation will continue to decrease costs, though others aren’t so sure.