Biotech Special Edition

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t’s a great question posed last August

by then-CEO of global meat giant Tyson

Foods, Tom Hayes.

Why not indeed, particularly when

producing animal-free meat could solve

some of the greatest global issues of our

time while paying serious dividends to the

bright minds who make it possible.

It’s a question that a growing number of

innovators have asked themselves as they

race to bring the most compelling solutions

– plant-based and clean meat – to market.

Since speaking to Innovators Magazine in

January of last year, the momentum of this

work to transform the global meat industry

has been startling. This trillion Euro market is

growing rapidly, but its inherent

inefciency makes it ripe for innovation.

It can’t happen soon enough, given the

damage industrial animal agriculture causes

to the environment, food security, public

health, and animals.

That is why The Good Food Institute

exists – to shift our supply from slaughter-

based meat to plant-based and clean meat

- which is real meat grown directly from

cells. The potential has been recognised by

governments, big food, and some of the

world’s largest meat producers, who, just

like Tyson Foods, have made substantial

investments in the space.

The success of established plant-based

meat companies like Beyond Meat and

Impossible Foods continues to boggle

my mind. Despite expanding production

facilities and adding new shifts, neither

company can keep up with the demand

for their products, which now feature at

popular restaurant chains like TGI Fridays

and White Castle.

Perhaps even more surprising have

been the advances in clean meat. Startups

working in this space are now closer than

ever to commercialising their products,

already achieving milestones that some

had predicted to be far in the future. For

example, California’s Finless Foods aims to

bring its bluefn tuna to market by the end

of 2019, and Dutch company Mosa Meats

has announced plans to sell clean meat

beef by 2021.

Funding continues to pour into these

companies, coming from global venture

capital frms to the world’s leading meat

companies like Tyson, Cargill, and PHW

Group – which is the largest chicken

company in Germany.

Canada’s largest meat producer Maple

Leaf Foods acquired plant-based meat

companies Field Roast and Lightlife. Also in

2018, Mosa Meats announced that it raised

$8.8 million in funding with the support of

Bell Food Group, one of Europe’s leading

meat processors.

These investments have been a pleasant

surprise, given that years ago, it was an

open question as to whether the meat

industry would work to stife innovation

in meat production. But instead, more and

more meat companies have embraced

plant-based and cell-based meat as

they work to diversify their oferings to

match consumers’ changing appetites.

And research shows that consumers are

hungry for slaughter-free meat, refecting

a growing concern around the health,

ethical, and environmental impacts of

conventional meat production.

Plant-based meat sales are soaring, with

The Good Food Institute’s most recent

survey with Nielsen showing that one in

every fve U.S. households are buying these

products. Sales are up by 23 percent in just

one year. If this growth rate continues like it

did for plant-based milks, the market could

soon be worth more than $10 billion.

There is also widespread interest in clean

meat, with most Americans saying they

would be willing to try it and would

consider replacing conventional meat with

these slaughter-free products. Fully 40%

say they would pay a premium for clean

meat. And that’s before any products are

available on the market!

There is striking evidence to support our

goal of transforming the meat industry to

better means of production. From scientifc

breakthroughs and investor excitement to

industry support and consumer demand, it

could not be clearer that plant-based and

clean meat will be the future.

These are the felds where innovators can

do an amazing amount of good in the

world, while doing very well for themselves

in the process.

gf.org

Bruce

Friedrich

MOSA MEATS

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