[Cultivated meat edition]

This is for the decision-makers of alt protein companies, especially those aligned with cultivated meat.

1. Quality over quantity.

IMHO diligence will be the key differentiator between the organisations that succeed and those who fail. Since regulatory approval guidelines are still coming together for alt protein technologies, companies are attempting all kinds of processes and techniques to produce a first product.

Word on the ‘cultivated’ street is that many cultivated meat companies are taking experienced cellular biologists on board, developing cell lines in-house to their specifications and focusing on the cells identity to ensure their products are in-fact the type they claim (muscle, fat, liver, cartilage etc.). Many others rely on obtaining any fast-growing cells available, whatever they may be, growing them at large scale quickly and producing a blended product of mixed cell types.

The fast-scaling approach may work for Proof of Concepts and to demonstrate how efficient cultivated meat could be, but when you start selling make sure you’re focusing on producing quality products.

Which category does your company fit into? If it’s the latter, I suggest a re-think.

The jury is out on whether consumers will want to swap their common supermarket meat, which is primarily muscle, for a sausage/burger/patty/nugget made 100% of connective tissue. It might be saving the environment but it won’t contain meat-specific components like myoglobin, a muscle-specific protein. Maybe the companies cutting corners are hoping that consumers won’t be biologically savvy enough to know the difference. I suspect they will be. Especially if they’re Generation Z and Generation Alpha, the most information-rich generations yet!

It’s only 2023, 10 years since cultivated meat companies started popping up around the globe so it’s still early days. It’s possible that the type of cells used won’t matter as much to future consumers. I’ve eaten fibroblasts (connective tissue) presented as a cultivated ‘meat’ product and I still enjoyed the experience and the taste. However, I also had in my mind that this will only improve once certain milestones are reached in the muscle research and tissue engineering space are made. As an industry, we are on the precipice of those milestones.

2. Release products that don’t make people ill.

The reputation of the alternative protein industry relies on safe, nutritious and delicious food. If your product doesn’t score exceptionally in these 3 metrics, farmed meat may just continue to be the consumer’s choice. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Anneline Padayachee, The Food and Nutrition Doctor. We discussed many topics, one of which was the necessity for food safety to avoid repeating history’s mistakes. In the past, many ‘culinary solutions’ were presented, produced, consumed and later found out to be harmful including Olestra. Any products discovered to pose health risks will leave a stain on the industry as a whole and may very well take it down altogether. I feel so strongly about this topic that I wrote a whole blog post about it, you can read it here.

Are you either leading up to or at the point where your company has a working process line and you are about to start tastings, samples and perhaps even a marketable product? Run your samples through a bioaccessability and bioavailability assay. Make sure your product will not only be digested and broken down, but that the nutrients derived can be utilised and won’t cause harm to your consumers.

3. Stay true to your values.

All of us are in this industry for one reason or another. For me, it’s because I’m an animal lover, but I want the opportunity to eat delicious meaty products I grew up eating, without the slaughter. I stopped eating animal products entirely 6 years ago because of the footage I saw from abattoirs, a rude shock to the system that woke me up to ethical eating. Despite being headstrong and determined, I still crave bacon, juicy steaks and fried chicken. This is why I do what I do.

For many, it’s also animal welfare that drove us to work in this field. For some, it’s the excitement of a new technology solving environmental problems. For others it’s working on the forefront of food tech that reeled them in. As the industry proliferates, niches will develop, naturally.

Factors like where you derive media ingredients from could ultimately impact how consumers see your product. For example, cultivated meat requires growth media, made up of nutrients such as amino acids, sugars and growth factors, to encourage cell growth. There are companies that were established by founders who follow a cruelty-free lifestyle in their personal lives. They have gone on to make cultivated meat products where all ingredients (the starting cells, the media ingredients, growth factors) are obtained without animal harm. These will be known for their ethical-angle.

There are also companies that were established by founders who spend their personal time focusing on environmental recovery and pollution reduction, and they are ensuring that all of their plastic consumables are recycled, all waste water treated and re-used. These will be known for their environmental-angle.

A study of 600 participants in Italy who would consume cultivated meat products was conducted to understand consumers’ motives. They were asked “For which reasons do you think you would consume cultivated meat?” A majority of them selected environmental sustainability and animal welfare as their reasons, and ~40% were simply curious or thought it would be healthier.

Will these be key differentiators in how companies can market their products? Absolutely. If that’s gives your brand competitive advantage with cultivated meat consumers, then we will see companies capitalise on their value-based identities, so stay true to yours.

Above all, be kind.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your opinions on this topic. Comment to share your thoughts.

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