Between FDA and USDA greenlighting the sale of cultivated chicken in the US, the ground-breaking of a large-scale precision fermentation facilities and advances in molecular farming, 2023 has been a banner year for novel protein production. But the path forward for these technologies is far from clear with manufacturing backlogs and bottlenecks, additional regulatory hurdles and a tightening investment landscape.
To feed a global population of 10bn people by 2050 we need to produce more food in the next 40 years than we have in the past 8,000 years, but as illustrated by the Green Revolution simply increasing available calories isn’t the answer – they need to be nutrient-dense and accessible so as not to contribute to diet-related chronic disease and produced in a way that doesn’t further compromise the health of the planet.
Alternative proteins offer myriad potential solutions to curb the effects of climate change and public health risks, while creating space for partnerships with corporate meat producers, panelists said during the Good Food Conference last week in a session titled, “Leaning into the personal and public health benefits of alternative proteins."
Nourish Ingredients, a frontrunner in the burgeoning ‘animal-free’ specialty fat segment, is teaming with Boston Bioprocess to efficiently scale the most “potent fat molecules” responsible for replicating the “animalic” aroma, flavor and taste of meat but from wild fungi strains or with the help of synthetic biology and genetically engineered oleaginous yeast strains.
To help close the taste-gap between alternative proteins and their animal-based counterparts, food-tech startup Melt&Marble is expanding and improving the selection and performance of available animal-free fats, which it says ultimately will help the struggling plant-based meat segment regain recently lost sales and consumer confidence.