How meat alternatives are modernizing the food industry
How meat alternatives are modernizing the food industry Meat is among the most resource-intensive foods, but plant-based and cultivated meat enables society to meet growing food demands sustainably. California is the hub for the fast-growing and disruptive industry, and the demand for research, innovation, and capital in the field is projected to increase in the coming years.
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lobally, meat consumption is at the highest it has ever been. According to the UN, global meat production is projected to double by 2050. Yet, a contrary trend is also visible. According to the market research company Euromonitor, the global meat substitutes sector is worth 20.7 billion USD and is set to grow to 23.2 billion USD by 2024. This trend is spurred on by a growing and diverse consumer base consisting of strictly vegans to carnivores attempting to limit their meat consumption. While these consumers are motivated by various reasons, from animal welfare to food security, more and more consumers are
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also attempting to mitigate the environmental impact of their food intake. Animal-based foods are typically more resource-intensive and environmentally impactful to produce than plant-based foods. By making meat alternatives from plants and cultivating meat from cells, meat production is undergoing a modernization. It is a faster process that enables more flexibility in production with a significantly lower emission rate. Three different processes and technologies mainly enable this modernization: plant-based protein, fermentation, and cultivated meat, and these three processes make up the new and growing field of alternative proteins.
