Lab grown or cultured meat is made up of animal cells, grown in a production facility, to emulate meat derived from an animal. There is a lot of excitement about this field and a lot of investor dollars going into lab grown beef, chicken, fish, you name it. For a more in depth introduction to the field of “cellular agriculture”, read this piece from New Harvest, an advocacy group.
A leading motivator for the development of cultured meat is ending animal agriculture, or at least reducing meat consumption, for the sake of the planet. This is a moral challenge, and a worthy goal, but cultured meat has a problem: plant-based products.
Research and development on cultured meat has been ongoing since the early 2000’s and the first lab grown burger was made in 2013. It is estimated that it will take another decade to get to more complex meat products, like steak. We’re still many years away from products that are equivalent to their animal derived counterparts that can be made at scale (to say nothing of their cost).
Spending years (or decades) on R&D before making it to market is not inherently bad. But there’s got to be a market there at the end and plant-based products are standing in the way.
With the advent of Beyond, Impossible, and the plant-based revolution, cultured meat is royally screwed. The plant-based meat companies are already 10 years ahead of any cultured meat company. Their products are close to cost parity today and they will have the ability to iterate on dozens if not 100’s of products over the course of the next decade. That kind of time for brand building and consumer adoption is a moat that will stop cultured meat in its tracks.
Based on data I’ve seen, most consumers would choose a lab steak over a cow steak only if they are pretty close to equivalent in taste, utility, and price. That won’t happen for at least a decade, and the plant-based options will be so good by that point - it will be very difficult for lab grown to compete.
Beyond competition, the regulatory environment is a huge concern. There is no clear path to approval for these products. This could add several years to a development plan, beyond any technical challenges, assuming the FDA lays out a course of action for these companies. And again, any delays here must be considered in the face of plant-based alternatives which are already on the market.
Then we have competition and lobbying by meat producers. I can’t wait to see what frivolous lawsuits and ridiculous marketing come from meat producers as lab grown meat gets to market. The USDA and FDA are political, and guess what industry has a metric shitload of political influence. I can see it now: Beef from cows: all natural. There will be a massive battle for consumer taste and attention. Whatever the outcome, it will be messy.
As long as animal produced meat is around, lab grown meat will struggle - and animal produced meat isn’t going anywhere. If you think that it will be regulated out of existence, dream on. If they’re going to eat meat, why wouldn’t the average consumer buy the superior, cheaper, more “natural” product?
Finally it's important to explore why consumers are buying non-animal options over meat. People eat meat alternatives for both moral and health reasons. Plant-based and lab grown meat are arguably on equal moral footing. But plant-based will have a health advantage over lab grown meat, which is expected to have similar nutritional properties to meat.
Reducing our reliance on animal agriculture is one of the most important things we can do for human health and to combat climate change, but cultured meat is fraught with peril. We should be doubling down on novel plant based proteins, innovating on new plant-based food formats (not everything has to be a burger!), and investing in infrastructure to make these products at massive scale.