How Cultivated Meat Could Disrupt the $1.4 Trillion Global Meat Industry

• Cultivated meat is produced by taking animal cells and growing them in bioreactors to create meat products like chicken or beef.
• The process is still expensive but costs have dropped 99% since 2013. Further scaling could make cultivated meat price-competitive with conventional meat by 2030.
• Cultivated meat has environmental benefits over conventional meat, using less land and water and emitting fewer greenhouse gases.
• Mass adoption faces challenges like building bioreactor capacity, reducing costs, convincing consumers, and navigating regulations.
• The global market could reach $25 billion by 2030 if cultivated meat gains just 1% of the protein market, but this requires huge investments in production capacity.

Meat production places immense strain on the planet, using vast tracts of land and producing significant greenhouse gas emissions. But global demand for meat is rising. Cultivated meat—produced by growing animal cells in bioreactors—could provide a sustainable solution, replicating the taste and texture of conventional meat with a fraction of the environmental impact. This emerging industry has attracted over $1.7 billion in investments and has multibillion-dollar disruption potential, but realizing it requires surmounting production and consumer adoption challenges.

What is cultivated meat?

Cultivated meat is identical to conventional meat on a cellular level, produced by taking stem cells from animals and growing them in bioreactors to create fat and muscle tissue. This lab-grown meat can then be shaped into familiar products like burgers, chicken breasts or steak.

Singapore became the first country to approve cultivated meat for sale in 2020. Since then, over 400 diners have sampled cultivated meat at 1880, an upscale Singaporean restaurant. Early reviews indicate most find cultivated chicken indistinguishable from the conventional type.

Producing the future of food sustainably

Livestock production uses 26% of ice-free land and generates nearly 15% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. With the United Nations forecasting world population will reach 10 billion by 2050, current meat production levels appear unsustainable.

Cultivated meat provides a solution. Producing it uses up to 98% less land and water than conventional meat, and emits far fewer greenhouse gases. Companies can also select cell lines from animals like ostrich that are delicious but difficult to farm at scale.

This allows for nutritious, sustainable production of meat to feed the planet's growing population. But it comes with big startup costs.

From lab to table: How cultivated meat is made

Cultivated meat production involves five steps:

1. Stem cells from animals are stored in cell banks and grown in shake flasks and seed train bioreactors to increase cell density.
2. Cells are transferred to progressively larger bioreactors for further growth.
3. At optimal density, bioreactors are drained and cells are harvested via centrifugation.
4. Isolated meat cells are blended with other ingredients to achieve desired texture.
5. Cells are formed into products and packaged for distribution.

The process occurs in bioreactors—essentially souped-up fermentation tanks. Designing bioreactors tailored to cultivated meat's unique needs could significantly reduce production costs.

From $325,000 to $15 per burger: The cost curve of cultivated meat

The first cultivated burger in 2013 cost over $300,000 to make. But costs have since dropped 99%, with burgers now producible for $15. Further economies of scale could make cultivated meat price-competitive with conventional meat by 2030.

These massive cost declines have attracted a surge in investments. Cultivated meat startups raised $350 million in 2020, doubling to $1.4 billion in 2021. Investors see a massive global protein market worth over $1.4 trillion annually.

However, major challenges remain to reach cost parity and commercial viability.

Key challenges: What it will take to scale up

Reaching 1% of the global protein market would require a $25 billion cultivated meat industry producing 1.5 million metric tons annually. That demands a huge bioreactor capacity—up to 440 million liters, compared to under 10 million liters presently used for pharmaceutical cell culture.

This will require major capital investments in tailored bioreactors and infrastructure. And it depends on continuing the cost curve decline through efficiencies and technological innovation.

Consumer adoption is another uncertainty. While safety and nutritional value are comparable to conventional meat, some may find the concept unappetizing. Marketing and consumer education will be vital.

Regulatory approvals also differ globally. Singapore was the first to allow the sale, while the US and Europe struggled with appropriate frameworks for evaluating and regulating this novel product category. Political lobbying may be influential here.

Massive potential with the right investments

Cultivated meat is still in its infancy. But with the right capital, innovations and infrastructure, it could disrupt the trillion-dollar conventional meat industry.

It provides a sustainable way to meet rising global protein demand, with huge upside potential for investors who move quickly. However, realizing a full-scale commercial industry will require overcoming production limitations and consumer skepticism.

Those who correctly assess the challenges, invest strategically and educate consumers can reap outsized rewards from this technology's massive disruption potential. The future of food is up for grabs.