26 March 2021 - Last year was a marquee year for the alternative meats industry, with surging merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity, investments and technical developments across the sector. Changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have, in some cases, changed consumer behaviour and made meat alternatives arguably more attractive than ever.
In the first part of this Insight we will provide an overview of the three main categories that make up the alternative meats industry: plant-based, cell-based and biomass fermentation-derived. Next week we will analyse how the sector evolved in 2020, responded to the global pandemic and what we can expect from it in the future, with views from Australian food futurist Tony Hunter.
Currently, the agricultural land used to rear animals for food accounts for 25% of the Earth’s habitable surface, meaning there is limited space to keep feeding a growing population using traditional methods.
Considering that one third of the arable land on the planet is used to produce feed for animals who also consume one third of all water used in farming, the common viewpoint is that the traditional meat industry is not optimally sustainable in its current arrangement to support a population fast reaching its capacity. Add into that estimates from the FAO declaring meat, dairy and eggs are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and it is clear something is going to have to change if we are to increase food production in a sustainable way.
It is this understanding, and a drive to improve food production globally, that has helped fuel the alternative meats industry in the last few decades. Last year saw the industry, and the view of the industry among consumers, change more rapidly than ever before. Despite this, alternative meats still account for less than 1% of the more than US$1 trillion global meat market.
Alternative-meats can be categorised into one of three subcategories, plant-based meat (PBM), microbial fermentation derived meat (often referred to solely as biomass) and cell-based meat (CBM). Despite all three providing meat alternatives to the market that do their best to replicate the taste, texture and qualities of meat, the methods from which they are derived are different and have developed at different rates since their conception.
Plant-Based Meat
Traditional plant-based meat alternatives have been eaten by humans for centuries, with examples like tofu (made from soy) and seitan (made from wheat) having had their meat-like qualities documented more than a thousand years ago. Despite the principles of their production remaining the same modern, or novel, plant-based alternative-meats (PBMs) are far more sophisticated in the way they are produced.
Novel PBMs have focussed on directly replicating the taste and texture of traditional meat far more closely using proteins derived from plant matter, such as pea or soy proteins, which are formed via an extrusion process.
This is because companies have found that marketing meat-alternative products to meat-eaters is seen as the most likely way to increase adoption globally. A trend that has been evidenced by two of the industry leaders in the PBM market, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, who have both reported that when their products are sold alongside traditional meat products they sell far better than when they are grouped with other vegan or vegetarian alternatives. Despite the increase in meat-alternatives in recent years, vegetarians and vegans still only account for 5% and 3% of people respectively across the globe.
Companies including Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have taken meat-replication to a new level in the last few years, with new, novel plant-based meat-alternatives which have harnessed new ingredients and processes to better replicate the characteristics of traditional meat. It is also seen as a more sustainable method to increase food production. One study from Impossible Foods found its faux-beef patty required 96% less land, 87% less water and emitted 89% fewer greenhouse gases than a burger produced by traditional methods.
Microbial Fermentation
Commercially available meat alternatives produced by microbial fermentation have come a long way since Quorn first brought their fungus-based mycoprotein to market in 1985. Unlike plants and animals which take months and years to grow, microbes can double their biomass in a few hours, and this can be hugely advantageous.
Microbial fermentation is not a new technique and is used in everything from bread to beer. Meat alternative tempeh has been produced by fermenting soybeans for centuries, using the fungus Rhizopus oligosporus. Fermentation can be achieved with a range of fungi, mycelium, as well as microalgaes and other bacteria and has huge potential in the alternative meats market as the process is efficient and cost-effective.
Many industry sources believe fermentation derived meat to be the one to watch in the alternative meats industry. In 2019 fermentation companies raised 3.5 times more capital than cultivated meat companies worldwide and almost 60% as much as the more well established US plant-based meat, egg, and dairy companies.
Modern techniques have divided fermentation into three main approaches: traditional, biomass and precision fermentation. Traditional fermentation (i.e. tempeh) uses live microorganisms to process plant-derived ingredients into products with unique texture and tastes.
Biomass fermentation benefits from the fast growth and high protein content of many microorganisms to produce large quantities of protein efficiently and without extrusion. Quorn’s products are an example of biomass fermentation, whereby the biomass itself serves as a primary ingredient in the final product.
Finally, precision fermentation uses microorganisms (i.e. yeast or microalgae) to create proteins by using microbial hosts as ‘cell factories’ to produce primary protein ingredients. An example of this is Impossible Foods’ heme protein, which utilises this method to give its patties a ‘bleeding’ texture.
A recent study by the Good Food Institute, the first of its kind for fermentation-derived alternative proteins, concluded, “Fermentation can enable a new generation of proteins, fats, and other functional ingredients that combine with plant-based and cultivated components to create biomimicking whole-cut meats, egg replacements, animal-free dairy proteins, seafood products, and more.” It is believed the most potential for fermentation-derived protein lies in utilising plant-based and fermentation techniques in tandem with one another to create products better able to replicate traditional meat.
Cell-Based Meat
Cell-based meat (CBM) is still a nascent industry, and has only existed in practice for 8 years, since Maastricht University professor, Dr. Mark Post, created the first cultured burger in 2013, at a cost of nearly USD 300,000.
Cell-based, or vitro-meat, is created by culturing cells harmlessly harvested from an animal in a suitable medium where they are fed and nurtured in order for them to multiply, creating strands of muscle tissue. These strands, approximately 20,000 for a conventional hamburger, are then combined into a familiar form and are ready for human consumption.
Biologically, cultured meat is identical to meat tissue harvested from an animal, the only difference is it can be produced without slaughter. It is believed that this method of growing meat is projected to use 95% fewer global greenhouse gas emissions, 98% less land use and up to half as much energy than traditionally reared meat, according to research by Forbes.
However, the hurdles for cell-based meat have been plentiful, from the costs involved in production to the ethical and legal barriers that have prevented mainstream adoption up to now. And that is before companies even begin to challenge consumer preconceptions about meat grown in a laboratory and not in a field.
The primary factor limiting the adoption of CBM has been price. The medium used to culture cells is vital for recreating the taste and texture of real meat, but they are expensive. The Good Food Institute estimates that anywhere from 55% to over 95% of the marginal cost of the final product is attributable to the cost of the medium. However, this looks to be changing, in 2020 CBM producers Mosa Meat reduced the cost of its medium by 88 times. In doing so it has reduced the cost of its cultured burger from $325,000 to just USD 9 in seven years. With per kilo prices for cell-based meat now ranging from $11-20/kilo and expected to continue to fall in line with traditional meat.
In next week’s edition we will cover the alternative meats boom in 2020, reflect on the impact of COVID-19 on the market and consider the future of the alternative meats industry in the next decade.
