The Many Flavours of Alternative Meat

The alternative meat market has experienced remarkable growth in the past decade, driven by concerns about climate change, animal welfare, human health, and the increasing adoption of veganism. In 2021, Forbes reported that the market size reached approximately $6 billion, with projections to double within the following seven years. Regrettably, Beyond Meat, once the shining example of the plant-based meat revolution, has witnessed a decline in its prominence. Nonetheless, a diverse range of companies have emerged to champion the cause, incorporating future science and technology to develop sustainable protein sources.

In this, we will delve deeper into Beyond Meat’s downturn and potential resurgence, while also exploring the captivating realm of mushroom, insect, and lab-grown proteins made possible through advancements in chemistry and science. We will cast our gaze into the future store of possibilities, examining what new developments in sustainability and technology might hold for us in the world of alternative proteins.

Background on the purpose of meat substitutes

Before we dive into all of these interesting developments, we should first answer the question: why should we care about plant-based foods? The simple answer is that it offers astonishing benefits over conventional meat products when it comes to environmental concerns. This is especially important given that the global demand for meat could rise up to 50% in the next four decades. Meat farming emits around 30%-90% more carbon emissions than conventional meat. 32% of our methane emissions come from livestock. Even though most farming land is indeed used for crops, most of this is used to feed cattle and other livestock. Plant-based food significantly less water and causes less aquatic nutrient pollution than conventional meat. A lesser-known issue that plant-based food solves is the issue of anti-biotics: the use of medication in livestock causes harmful bacteria to grow resistant to the biotics, and spread into humans. An estimation is that by 2050 drug-resistant microbes like these could kill 10 million people per year and a $100 trillion loss to the world economy. The latter is a Great Depression’s worth of economic loss. None of this is meant to suggest that plant-based meats are the only way to reduce environmental impact. Instead, a systematic overhaul of how we use, process and consume meat is simply necessary for our long-term survival. Not only that, but the benefits when it comes to our bodies for a plant-based diet includes lower blood pressure, fewer saturated fats, weight loss and longer overall life.

The Fall of Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat, once the darling of the plant-based protein world, has struggled in recent years. The brand faced fierce competition from new entrants in the market, while also dealing with criticism over its processed ingredients and questionable nutritional value. Vanessa Rissetto, RD, co-founder of Culina Health, says that“People want to be more plant-based, but also want quick and easy,” she says. “It’s easier to throw a fake burger in a pan and cook it up than to get creative with beans and tofu.” She goes onto to point out the high sodium found in Beyond Meat burgers.

The company’s inability to adapt to shifting consumer preferences and the rapid pace of innovation in the alternative meat space has left it struggling to maintain its once dominant position. Its sales dropped off in 2022, but has since seen a promising turnaround. Still, its stock has plummeted over the past 2 years, with lots of layoffs and a general loss in confidence from investors. Some of its products have been appearing in popular fast food chains such as McDonalds, but only in a testing capacity. On the topic of competition, the CEO of Beyond Meat had this to say, “More companies are pursuing the same or fewer consumers.”

Despite this, according to a report by GlobalData, the number of self-identified vegans in the US has increased by 600% in the last three years alone. Many countries report high figures of consumers switching to a plant-based diet too. But there has been a slow down in spending on these items too. Retail sales of meat alternatives fell about 12% in the year through November 6, according to data from IRI. Ground plant-based meat fell about 19%, and patties were down 30% in that period. This may be due to the cessation of fads (such as Veganuary), the rise of inflation and the lack of competition that typically brings cheaper options to consumers. Despite this, the vegan frozen food industry is seeing an unexpected and sudden growth. Strips and cutlets sales increased about 16% and nuggets jumped nearly 28% (primarily the USA). Another company, Nuggs, a plant-based chicken nugget made by startup Simulate, has made a splash online thanks to its bold packaging over the last few years and has been expanding in retail. Last year, Daring unveiled its plant-based chicken tenders into hundreds of grocery stores and later Target stores.

The Magic of Mushrooms

As the alternative meat market evolves, non-plant based protein sources are also emerging. Mushrooms have gained popularity as a versatile, sustainable, and nutritious alternative to meat. Fermentation, the same process used to create beer and bread, uses spores from specific mushrooms to produce mycoprotein. In 1980s, Quorn, a UK company, patented their mycoprotein creation. Since then, the patent has expired. The food innovation arena has since been swarmed by other businesses, with “big plans for the humble mushroom”. Companies like Meati Foods and Ecovative are harnessing the power of mycelium (a network of fungal threads) to create mushroom food with a texture similar to meat. Recently, Meati established a cattle-free “mega ranch” that produces mycelium-based protein and has the capability of manufacturing millions of pounds of vegan meat annually. They claim that with just a teaspoon of mycelium cells, they can create a vegan substitute for “hundreds of cows’ worth of food” in only a few days.

Alongside Meati, number of plant-based meat manufacturers are using mycelium to replicate the texture and taste of animal protein, at a fraction of the environmental cost. Similarly, fashion companies are experimenting with swapping out animal leather for a mycelium alternative that can be grown in resource-aware conditions. Stella Mccartney notably launched a range of luxury handbags made from mycelium.

There are a variety of mushroom flavours available. Quorn is already a well-established brand, improving the world by reducing beef mince consumption (one of the biggest causes of pollution in the food industry), and facing a sea of competition since their patent expired. Given all this, it would appear mushrooms are a strong market contender for meat alternatives.

The Buzz around Bug Burgers

Insects, long considered a delicacy in many cultures, are making their way into the mainstream as a sustainable and nutrient-dense protein source. Startups like Ynsect and Entomo Farms are developing insect-based ingredients and products that pack a powerful protein punch while minimizing environmental impact. “More than 2,100 edible insects have been recorded in the world, according to Wageningen University and Research from the Netherlands.

Upon researching this I was mortified to realize bugs are already part of our daily diets: The US Food and Drug Administration allows 30 or more insect parts and some rodent hair in every bar of chocolate (not to mention nine rodent hairs in every 16 ounce box of spaghetti). It’s not exactly a persuasive technique to illustrate this to you in a post that is largely promoting meat alternative diets. But the psychology of disgust is the biggest barrier when it comes to embracing intentionally insect-derived foods. It is also largely a Western bias, as many African and Asian countries already use insect as a major source of nutrients.

According to a report by Global Market Insights, the US edible insect market topped $55 million in 2017 and is expected to grow to nearly $80 million by 2024. A similar trajectory for Europe has been observed while Asian Pacific nations are estimated to eat $270 million worth of insects in the next five years. “Edible insects such as mealworms create less than one percent of the amount of greenhouse gases that cows do; house crickets even less,” Statista reports, also stating that “insect cultivation requires two percent of the amount of water required by cattle. Insects also require significantly less space than cattle, hogs or poultry.” U.S.-based Future Market Insights (FMI) reports that the insect protein market is expected to reach $838.5 million in 2032, up from $349.2 million in 2022.

Moving forward, a diverse portfolio of protein sources will be crucial to our survival. This is especially relevant given issues with bird-influenza and excessive methane emissions associated with livestock. Perhaps in a few years we’ll be snacking on bugs Timon and Pumbaa style.

The Market-Readiness of Lab-Grown Meat

Lab-grown, also known as cultured meat, is a scientific breakthrough that could transform the global food industry. By cultivating animal cells in a lab, companies like Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat, and Aleph Farms are producing real meat without the need for raising and slaughtering animals. This technology holds great promise for reducing the environmental and ethical concerns associated with conventional meat production.

Cultivating meat involves taking a small sample of animal cells, typically muscle cells, and placing them in a controlled lab environment in a petri dish. Then these cells are exposed to a mixture of natural amino acids and carbohydrates, promoting cell growth and multiplication, ultimately forming muscle fibers. So far, it has successfully been used to produce beef, fish, chicken, pork, and duck. Using just half a gram of cow muscle can create up to two kilograms of beef, without killing animals or passing any diseases to consumers. Technologies involved in producing lab-grown meat also include bioprocess design, tissue engineering, cell lines, cell culture media, and 3D cell culture platforms called scaffolds.

Even if the technology is there, there are plenty of regulatory hurdles to overcome before cultured meat becomes accessible to the everyday consumer. Fortunately, there has recently been a greenlight from the FDA for Upside Foods, enabling them to sell synthetic chicken. The regulatory agency issued a “no questions” letter as part of its pre-market consultation, which means the agency agrees with the company’s conclusion that its cultivated chicken is safe to consume. However, they still have to get approval from the US Department of Agriculture before they can actually sell it the public. However, the rest of the world is not necessarily following this trend, with the Italian government backing a bill that would ban lab-grown meat and other synthetic foods, citing “food heritage” as the reason for this decision.

The reason this is the most promising of the meat-alternatives is because it is effectively meat. A key questions consumers ask is, “What does cultured meat taste like?” Some people compare the taste to a McDonald’s hamburger, while others say it has a savory and rich taste. It depends on the meat cells used as well as the features of the lab used to create it. Control over flavour is crucial, Soon it can have the same flavour and texture as any meat available. While current science might require us to add artificial flavouring for certain items, it is worth noting that some undesired flavours found in real meat (due to boar taint and other related phenomena) can be avoided entirely. Going further, as the science not just of cultivated meat continues to flourish, so too does the ability to control the flavour of lab-grown edibles. The gastronomic revolution, bringing about the best tastes possible to the human pallet, may upon us yet.

The Frontier of Mythical Meats

While still a far-off concept, the idea of creating meat from creatures that don’t exist (such as extinct animals or even animals from mythology) has captured the imagination of foodies and scientists alike.

Several biosciences company are working to resurrect mammoths from extinction, using CRISPR and DNA from a variety of Asian elephants. Just in time for dinner, the Australian startup Vow, have just about produced meatballs from lab-grown mammoth cells. They used publicly available DNA from the mammoth, as well as genes from African elephants, before inserting it into a sheep cell, multiplying the cells and rolling them up into a delicious meatball. Another startup called Paleo are figuring out how to make burgers out of these very creatures. Mammoth is soon to be on the menu, but what about food from an animal that has never actually existed?

Imagine dining on a unicorn burger, crafted from a blend of plant-based proteins and enhanced with natural colors to create a magical, otherworldly experience. Or perhaps you’d prefer a Jurassic-themed meal, complete with dino nuggets made from lab-grown dinosaur tissue, engineered using advanced gene-editing techniques. As a branding and promotional game, alternative meat products could capitalize on people’s imaginations, bringing foods and flavours inspired by fictional creatures such as unicorns. This would give the food a unique selling point over the simple fact of it being a protein source. Going further, what’s to stop cultivated human meat emerging on supermarket shelves? The harmful side-effects are mitigated when produced in this fashion, but the taboo surrounding the topic doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

The idea of bringing back old life, or creating new life, for culinary pursuits may seem outlandish, but what is conceivable is usually what is possible, and what is possible, in this day of ever-changing technology and engineering, becomes narrower and narrower with each new discovery.

Conclusion

The alternative meat landscape has evolved rapidly, leaving once-prominent brands like Beyond Meat in the dust. As we look to the future, it’s clear that the industry is moving towards more diverse and innovative sources of protein, from mushrooms and insects to lab-grown meats and beyond. As science and technology continue to advance, so too will our pallets, our need for sustainability and our imaginations on what is possible to eat in the first place.

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