Searching for the sustainable alternative proteins With livestock-farming responsible for the biggest proportion of GHG emissions in the food chain (18% of all emissions from human activities)5, exploration of alternative protein sources is a major innovation driver. One avenue is meat analogues that mimic the taste and texture of various different meat cuts, but which are made entirely of vegetable matter, such as pea, soy, mycoprotein, and new entrants like fava beans and micro algae. Another is actual meat, produced in labs rather than in fields or feedlots. While the technology is viable, the current task is to identify affordable growth media, and ways of scaling up production and supply chains.
Meat analogues and plant-based proteins With livestock rearing responsible for around 18% of carbon emissions caused by human activities, growing numbers of consumers have become 'flexitarian' - that is, reducing meat in their diets. To cater to them, R&D teams around the world have been developing vegan meat analogues that are near impossible to distinguish from animal-derived foods they mimic in terms of taste, texture, and appearance. A 2019 report by management consultancy AT Kearney predicted that analogues will capture a 25% chunk of the meat market in 2040.6 Among the best-known brands to hit the market so far are the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger. Both replicate beef. Wicked Healthy is now marketing Good Catch plantbased tuna (a blend of chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans, navy beans, algae and seaweed)7; and UK company THIS recently secured £4.7 million in seed funding to scale up production of its bacon and chicken analogues —mainly from pea and soy protein.8
Numbers are rounded to hundred billions Source: United Nations, World Bank, Expert interviews; A.T. Kearney analysis
Getting the meaty texture right is a major preoccupation for developers. Ojah was so determined to mimic the texture of short ribs with its Heppi extruded yellow pea protein, unveiled at Fi Europe in 2019, that it spent 6 years in development. 9 Barcelona-based NovaMeat, meanwhile, claims to have found the answer for plant-based 'beef steak' in 3D printing technology and tissue engineering technologies.10 Another hurdle is masking the off-notes in taste that can occur with plant-based proteins. This can be a long and frustrating process, as the addition of a new ingredient can mask one off-note but exacerbate another. Givaudan is now offering a helping hand with its SmartTools software, based on the results of 2000 sensory evaluations conducted on peas, fava beans, rice, oats, algae, and whey.11 Until recently the plant-based analogue scene has been dominated by soy, pea, and mycoprotein Quorn. Now, though, there is demand for more diverse plant-based sources with a high protein content and full amino acid profile. Established companies and start-ups are investigating the likes of fava beans12, micro alge 13, Laetiporous mushrooms14, sugar beet foliage15, and Mankai duckweed16, to name but a few. A Swedish start-up called Mycorena is also preparing to launch a new fungus-based mycoprotein, one of the first challengers to Quorn in Europe.17
Sustainability as a driver of innovation in the food industry | 5
