Cultivated meat could debut on upscale restaurant menus in the US in as little as a few weeks or months after the USDA on Wednesday gave the greenlight for UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat to sell their “cell-cultured chicken” in the US.
Improving the sustainability of the food system is no longer optional from an optics and long-term business perspective, but short-term challenges – including consumer engagement – threaten immediate and mid-range returns and margins, complicating the path forward, according to industry experts.
While the cultivated meat industry has overcome significant upstream processing and regulatory hurdles in the past year, new market research suggests startups still face notable downstream food manufacturing challenges that could place them – along with investors and consumers – in a dangerous position.
FoodNavigator-USA sat down with Jillian Semaan, VP, sustainability in Ketchum’s food, agriculture and ingredient division, during the Vegan Women Summit in New York City to discuss how food and beverage brands can cultivate an authentic ESG and DEI strategy that extends beyond the internal workings of the company and into the community it serves.
With between a quarter and a third of human caused greenhouse gas emissions linked to food production and climate change intensifying to a point that its impacting how, where and when key crops are grown, improving sustainability in the food system is no longer nice to have – it is a must have.