What is Lab Grown Meat?
You might have heard of cultured, clean, or lab-grown meat as it continues to make headlines and gain popularity. Lab grown meat – increasingly called “clean meat” – is grown from incubated cells in a lab. While this might sound like a crazy science experiment, this sort-of animal-less meat is set to hit the shelves by the end of the year and is making major waves in the industry. By “tricking” meat cells into thinking they are still in an animal, scientists (turned chefs?) can create many pieces of meat from one singular piece of meat, significantly cutting down the amount of animals turned into a food source. The costs of this process are currently extremely high, resulting in lots of fundraising with goals of making this product viable for sales in grocery stores and restaurants.
Meat Making Headlines
A major player in the cultured meat market is JUST, formerly known as Hampton Creek, who claims that they can and will bring lab-grown meat to the shelves this year. Much controversy has surrounded the company’s decision to grow meat, resulting in the resignation of the company’s entire board except their CEO. Despite this, a whopping $310M has been raised to achieve their ambition of selling this lab-grown meat. Technology to create muscle-meats like steak are far too advanced, so the most likely product we will see is ground beef or turkey. While the introduction of this meat by the end of year may seem like a stretch, JUST’s successful vegan alternatives for mayonnaise and eggs leave us with high hopes.
Another clean meat startup, Future Meat Technologies (FMT), also aims to create a cost-efficient process for clean meat. They have recently raised $2.2M of funding led by Tyson Ventures of CPG company, Tyson Foods. The investment in this category proves the interest in the alternative meat category, largely comprised of plant-based and lab-grown meats.
As plant-based meat continues to win over customers (like Impossible Foods plantless patties being served at White Castle), the question still remains whether consumers will embrace clean-meat. With little information regarding the environmental impact or health implications of lab-grown meat, it might be hard for people to jump on the bandwagon. Time shall tell how foodies will feel about this meat, and with promises of release at some point this year, answers could be coming sooner than we might think! The next time you eat a hamburger at a summer BBQ, it might have come from a lab.
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