Cultured Meat and More: The Potential Shift From Farm to Lab

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

Meat is money; the size of the prize is vast

The commercial opportunity for cell-cultured meat is huge. Global total volume sales of all meat exceed 250 million tonnes per year. Even the (much smaller) processed meat category reached USD177 billion in retail sales value on a worldwide basis in 2021 - and these are the kinds of products easier to create via a cell-culture process, such as burgers, sausages, etc.

Meat majors are increasingly involved

Meat companies have been investing in cell-cultured start-ups for a number of years. In 2022 however, a new benchmark was set, when JBS completed the purchase of Spanish cultivated protein company BioTech Foods and announced a USD100 million spend on facilities.

Singapore was first, but there are many that may follow suit

In late 2020, Singapore became the first country to allow sales of cell-cultured meat and, as yet, remains alone in doing so. Its motivations included greenhouse gas reduction and food security; there are 122 markets worldwide with a net zero/carbon neutral/climate neutral target date of 2050 or sooner and (more than) 28 where food Imports are over 30% of food production.

Look to the future, as the young come onboard

Reluctance to consume cell-cultured food may diminish over time, as today’s younger adults are the most open to both GMO and “artificial” ingredient food technologies. They are also more likely to be eating plant-based meat alternatives for the environment or for animal welfare, motivations also addressed by switching to cell-cultured meat.

The premium price problem looks to be receding at pace

Achieving comparable prices is hugely important - if cell-cultured meat is more expensive, the potential consumer base becomes reduced to those willing to pay a premium for ethical or environmental claims. Israel’s Future Meat Technologies is out in front, saying it can produce a 110g cultivated chicken breast for USD1.70, a far cry from the USD300,000 cost of the first cell-cultured burger.