When the United States Department of Agriculture issued grants of inspection to cultivated meat purveyors Upside Foods and Eat Just in June, the decision marked the day that many in the food tech world had been waiting for. But now, a costly business model as well as consumer acceptance and education are what the industry is looking to tackle next.
“As we scale this technology, we need to bring down the cost. The three main things we need to do are to make much larger vessels in which to grow the cells, reduce the cost of the feed that grows the cells, and increase the density of the cells in each production run,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just said.
As companies work to scale production in a difficult economic environment, the secret to a profitable and sustainable future may lie in collaboration and partnership with traditional meat companies.
Funding issues may require unlikely partnerships
The U.S. meat industry is a $227.9 billion sector. Some experts have argued it will take a blend of public and private money needed for production facilities for the cultivated meat industry to get an edge.
To get its product to consumers, Eat Just chicken has been serving its meat in Singapore since 2020 at the acclaimed restaurants Madame Fan and 1880. The company also partnered with local hawker stalls to re-imagine Singapore street food, and is available via delivery on Foodpanda and at Huber’s Butchery. In the U.S., Good Meat launched at China Chilcano, José André’s restaurant in Washington D.C.
But it’s not just restaurants interested in the emerging industry. JBS is building a cultivated meat facility in Spain, while other meat giants including Tyson Foods and Cargill have also invested in the tech.
“At the end of the day, if consumers demand meat that’s more ethical and sustainable, conventional food and meat companies will want to be a part of it,” Tetrick said. “We think that’s a good thing.”
Still, convincing other major companies to jump on board may be a challenge. Kellogg Co CEO Steve Cahillane told Reuters at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in Chicago that he did not rule out investment in cultivated meat, but noted that the industry is still at the beginning.
“Can it be scaled up in a really meaningful way? That needs to get solved,” he told Reuters.
Gen Z has a taste for cultivated meat
A survey from consumer insights platform Veylinx in 2022 found that Gen Z may be most agreeable to trying cultivated meat. The survey found 87% of Gen Z consumers are interested in trying alternative meats including plant-based and cultivated.
Amy Chen, COO of Upside Foods, and other leaders in the field, point to these shifting consumer behaviors, especially in younger generations, increasing interest on their buying choices and “their impact on significant global issues like climate change,” Chen said “As a company and an industry, we recognize the significance of these trends and the potential they hold for our cultivated meat products.”
Consumers have reacted in a variety of ways to the actual taste and experience of the meat. Tetrick’s cultivated chicken was met with quite a few positive reactions, including some confusion as diners tried to explain to each other what it actually is, in a video compilation of their feedback.
“The cells are alive. You take it from the chicken to make this,” one woman explains to her dining partner. “When I bit into it, it was really soft,” the consumer said. “It’s actually fantastic — it’s incredible,” another added.
Diners commented on texture, an important aspect to multiple consumers. In another compilation, restaurant manager Loo Kia Chee gives cultivated chicken a try with his curry, considering it for future business. He said he couldn’t really tell the difference between cultivated and traditional chicken.
Vox staff writer Kenny Torella recently reported on his own taste test at the upscale San Francisco restaurant Bar Crenn where Upside Foods’ cultivated chicken will make its debut Aug. 4.
“The GOOD Meat chicken came quite close to real chicken — maybe because it is real chicken, just made very differently, of course,” Torella told Food Dive. “ I think it’s a promising first product, but time will tell if GOOD Meat and other cell-cultivated meat sectors can both improve their meat, and bring down the cost and increase the scale.”