💬Europeans want the freedom to choose cultivated meat, eggcellent news from Denmark, and new report on cultivated meat opportunities for farmers
The Good Food Institute Europe
Advancing plant-based and cultivated meat in Europe to build a better food system for people, planet and animals.
This month: Meet the head of the new alternative protein research centre at Imperial College London, advice for alternative protein startups hoping to scale up production, and what the UK’s new government could mean for alternative proteins.
Featured story: Europeans want the freedom to choose cultivated meat
Consumers should be able to decide for themselves whether to eat cultivated meat once it has been approved by EU regulators. This was the finding of one of the largest surveys of its kind, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by GFI Europe.
Representative surveys of over 16,000 consumers across 15 European countries found that 69% of respondents in Portugal, 58% in Spain, 65% in Germany and 57% in Belgium are in favour of cultivated meat being approved for sale providing it passes the EU’s rigorous regulatory procedures. Just under half of those surveyed in France and Romania also shared this view.
Majorities across all countries polled thought cultivated meat packaging should be allowed to use ‘meaty’ names such as chicken, burger and sausage while making it clear that the cultivated meat comes from a different production process. In eight of the countries polled, more than half would try cultivated meat if it was made available, and more than 40% agreed with this statement in another six countries.
The findings are striking in the wake of Italy’s cultivated meat ban – particularly as 53% there agreed that this food should be made available if it is approved by regulators.
Cultivated meat must go through one of the world’s most robust food regulatory processes before it can be sold in the EU and it’s clear that people across a wide range of countries believe once this has happened, consumers rather than politicians should have the final say if they want to eat it.
Europe has everything it takes to become a world leader in cultivated meat, and policymakers across the region should recognise its potential to boost our food security and drive green growth by supporting this rapidly growing sector.
Top stories
A new report by the UK’s Royal Agricultural University suggests using farming by-products could help the industry bring down costs while providing benefits to some farmers. The project partnered with nine farms and found that while many farmers were suspicious of this new food, there was still interest in the opportunities it could offer. With cultivated meat bans in Italy having been partly led by concerns over the perceived threat to livestock farming, his report demonstrates how building bridges between the cultivated meat sector and agricultural communities can offer benefits to both and calls for sustained open dialogue.
In the second part of our scale-up series, Head of Industry Carlotte Lucas talks about the importance of startups finding the right market for their product at every stage of growth. While it’s difficult for alternative protein businesses to offer low margins and become profitable, they can find success in identifying smaller, niche markets – and if necessary, pivoting towards more cost-effective pathways. She says that although exploiting the right gap in the market may be easier said than done, flexibility and pragmatism are crucial to help sustainably scale this sector.
A survey has revealed that nearly seven in 10 Italians believe companies should be allowed to use terms like ‘burger’ and ‘milk’ to describe plant-based products. The Italian government brought in the restrictions last year, despite the country being Europe’s third-largest market for plant-based products. The law, currently unimplemented and potentially unenforceable, has left Italian companies in limbo – not knowing whether they will need to make costly changes to their marketing strategies. Restricting the language allowed for these products may discourage consumers from choosing more sustainable options and the Italian government should reverse this decision. Read in English or Italian.
A Danish project has been launched to develop next-generation ingredients with the functionality of eggs but without the environmental footprint. The Pier project, led by Aarhus University with ingredients company Palsgaard A/S and public funding from Innovation Fund Denmark, aims to replace 10% of eggs used globally as ingredients. Reducing dependence on eggs is important for both consumers and manufacturers, lowering products' carbon footprint while bolstering stability in the face of ongoing issues such as bird flu and fluctuations in feed and energy costs.
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Following last week’s historic UK election, UK Policy Manager Linus Pardoe has set out how the incoming government could take advantage of the opportunities offered by alternative proteins. Writing in the UK Day One Project, which aims to accelerate science and technology, he says the country has the scientific infrastructure needed to become an international leader in developing these foods but requires the right government support. This includes modernising regulations for cultivated meat and fermentation-made ingredients and investing £100 million in research, development and infrastructure to bring innovative new products to market.
A new report by Foodvalley NL and Invest NL points to ways the Netherlands can boost its position as a world food innovation leader. This includes developing a national strategy to support the alternative protein sector, establishing regional hubs with state-of-the-art shared facilities backed by public-private partnerships, and expanding financial support, such as by introducing bridge-funding programmes for startups. The Netherlands has Europe’s highest per capita rate of plant-based food consumption and is home to a network of businesses and researchers, but issues such as limited access to facilities and funding shortages risk hindering companies’ abilities to scale up.
The general consensus from scientific research, substantiated by two recent systematic reviews, suggests replacing conventional (particularly processed) meat with plant-based meat is associated with several health benefits. Unfortunately however, inaccurate headlines surrounding a recent study on ultra-processed foods and health gave a very different impression. The latest substack post from The Good Food Institute, guest written by GFI Europe’s Amy Williams , takes a deep dive into a strange new study on ‘plant-sourced foods’ and ultra-processing, and the flurry of wildly misleading headlines that accompanied its publication.
Meet the researcher
The Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein recently opened at Imperial College London, aiming to become a focal point for research and development into plant-based, fermentation-made and cultivated meat while expanding the global alternative protein science ecosystem.
We talk to Dr Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, leading the new centre, and find out more about what he hopes it will achieve, and what the future holds for new researchers entering this burgeoning field.
Events, opportunities and resources
Events:
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For more alternative protein opportunities, check out our funding database, visit AltProtein.jobs, or subscribe to the Tälist newsletter.
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Public Health, Food Safety/Quality, Biotechnology
2moRob Butler
Senior Director, Product Management
3moGreat post. Before Europeans will be able to consume cultivated meat, the regulations should adapt quickly. The regulatory system must support the development of cultivated meat in Europe, or else all the development and go to market efforts will be focused on more opened countries as Singapore, Korea, Israel and U.S.