Are alternative proteins the silver bullet solution for the food system?

NOTE from LRIC: This post is one in a series of LRIC-prepared summaries of discussions and presentations that were part of the 2021 Future Food-Tech Alternative Protein Summit. LRIC attended this virtual summit to learn more about how the livestock sector is viewed and how it may be impacted by the growing popularity of protein alternatives. LRIC believes it is important for those in the livestock industry to know what is being said about our industry so we can refute where possible and change where necessary. Originally published in the August 2021 Livestock Innovation Newsletter.

For alternative protein advocates, moving away from meat is fundamental to changing the food system as we know it. By choosing a flexitarian approach, so the argument goes, both consumers and food companies will be more sustainable and help bring an end to climate change.

But are alternative proteins really the silver bullet solution they are promoted to be? And is there a role for traditional animal agriculture in the future? Here’s what food innovation experts had to say during a presentation at this year’s Future Food-Tech Alternative Protein Summit, and why the livestock industry should be aware of where the food industry is headed.

How will protein be re-invented in the next 10-15 years?

Hadar Sutovsky, Vice President of External Innovation at global speciality minerals company ICL Group:
The key motivation for buying plant-based food is environmental and sustainability claims. I see technologies getting more advanced, decreasing cost curves, and hopefully, changes in regulations, which is a must. Consumer adoption is surging now. Reaching to novel ingredients through the alternative protein industry is the silver bullet for a future in clean label ingredients and looking to replace chemical additives with proteins. That’s my take on the next decade.

Caroline Sorlin, Plant Based Acceleration Unit General Manager at Bel Group, owner of popular dairy brands like Laughing Cow, Boursin and Babybel:
The revolution has started and has been accelerated by the pandemic. There is no reverse trip, the food system has to be changed. Flexitarianism is a deep conviction and this consciousness is not just among consumers but also corporations because we also have a role to play. If you look at the big investment behind plant proteins, it was $3 billion last year, which is just another evidence that alternative protein is part of the solution and we can’t avoid the topic.

We need to bring all of our forces together to make this new technology happen and be successful. I don’t know if 22% (of the conventional meat market replaced by alternative proteins) by 2035 is possible, but we need to unlock all the barriers like regulations and consumer acceptance. If we can overcome these, 20% could be achievable but it is not enough. We need to combine alternative proteins with helping the conventional industry produce in a more sustainable way; that I see as the right way to change the food system.

Max Rye, Chief Strategist at Turtletree, a cell-based company creating milk alternatives including for human milk:
With respect to regulatory, we don’t know where that will be. In a lot of industries, there are major players that have been incredibly successful in precision fermentation in biofuels who are now turning their focus to alternative proteins. They are quite good at increasing yields from their strains and are putting effort into proteins. This is exciting. In the next 10 years I see a lot of progress, a lot of innovation and new technology that we didn’t even think of that can be commercialized. When I talk to scientists, a few years ago they said it wasn’t possible, and then someone solves the problem and it is shocking: that’s what we’ll see. And that means more innovation, more high quality, nutritious products at a price point for consumers in the next 10 years.

Eugene Wang, Co-Founder and CEO of Sophie’s Bionutrients, which unveiled the world’s first plant-based burger made from microalgae earlier this year:
Bioprocessing was previously reserved for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries, but it is the future of protein production. Its profile and space footprint will be smaller, and control of pollution and contamination will be better. We will also be able to increase output better with new technologies available and because of all this, we can avoid a lot of the chemicals used today. The future of protein production is very bright. We can even have a very workable space protein production technology available for us. Once (Amazon founder and space investor) Jeff Bezos is ready for Mars settlement, we can set up production on another planet; that is how sustainable and scalable the future of protein production will be. It can feed us on this planet and on others.

Plant-based foods are scalable now but are highly processed. Will the market adopt plant-based foods on a broad scale given the potential unhealthiness of processed foods?

Eugene Wang, Sophie’s Bionutrients:
I strongly disagree. What they are calling unhealthy is processed food 1.0, which is not transparent, there is no responsibility about what’s in it, and the driver is profit. Processed food 2.0 was Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat where transparency is almost by default and design was not for their profit but for future generations and trying to make a healthier alternative to the meat we have today.

Hadar Sutovsky, ICL Group:
We have to acknowledge that there are too many ingredients in these products. Plant-based foods are not innovative, we have had it for a few decades now and we are evolving from a veggie burger to a more sophisticated type of product using soy, lentils, pea etc. It is getting trendier and investment is surging with a tsunami of investment into this space. We are solution providers all of us: start-ups, conventional protein producers, grain processors and retailers. We are making margins and gaining from these trends but we need to focus on healthy food that is also sustainable and sufficient. The struggle is to make it less processed with fewer ingredients. The balance we have to gain during this evolution of technology and innovative processes is to make it less processed and healthier - we need more sustainability overall, not just a focus on plant-based foods.  

Caroline Sorlin, Bel Group:
In the cheese market, 80% to 90% of the alternative cheese is quite processed, a mix of coconut oil and starch. If you want to do an alternative cheese, it must be tasty, have the right functionality and the right price. Right now it is quite processed but it is a first step if your objective is to improve the product. We have acquired a start-up that will let us have a tasty cheese with the right functionality and the right price, and now we are working hard to improve the formula step by step. That’s the right way to proceed.

Max Rye, Turtletree:
We do need to be careful because we are in our own bubble and outside of it, the perception is different. Parents perceive plant-based foods as very unhealthy and highly processed. That is a reality, but if there is to be a (plant-based foods) 3.0, the nutritional value has to improve, the ingredients have to be simpler and transparency has to be part of the story. And other technologies or solutions may play a role as well, like cell-based agriculture or technologies that can make plant-based foods healthier and more functional. If you look at middle to upper income spenders, most don’t go to Burger King or McDonald’s, they are actively choosing healthier options and if we want to crack into that market, we have to work harder to make this stuff more nutritious.

These new products are promising as being planet friendly and nutritious, but there are massive scaling problems. Will cell-based agriculture and fermentation be able to scale enough?

Max Rye, Turtletree:
The demand is growing so much I don’t think that even with all of us put together we’ll be able to put a dent in the demand. We have this illusion that we are going to take over an industry, but dairy alone is a $720 billion a year industry. We are lucky if we can scratch the surface, but it is a good start. And even if we bring the cost down, it will take time to make the impact we want, I believe 20 years to get to 10% of the market. That’s a big deal, it’s a massive undertaking with the amount of supply chains that need to be modified to make that happen and the amount of fermentation capacity needed.

Hadar Sutovsky, ICL Group:
We must acknowledge that traditional animal protein production is not disappearing.

Eugene Wang, Sophie’s Bionutrients:
Yes, there will always be people who want to eat it (traditional animal protein).

Will alternative proteins be a side show to traditional agriculture, or will traditional agriculture become a sideshow to alternative proteins?

Max Rye, Turtletree:
With the type of manufacturing required and the large plants to be built, it takes years and it will be a long time before we can scale up the manufacturing and supply chain to be able to fill larger markets.

Hadar Sutovsky, ICL Group:
The challenges are scaling up, cost reduction and regulatory approval. Will people be willing to buy cultured meat? An Australian study said 70% approximately of Generation Z would not want to eat lab-grown meat so the perception of lab-grown is also a challenge. We need to ask ourselves a lot of questions in the context of cultured meat, questions that would help us assess potential impacts on supply chains, human health, and the environment. How will we label the product? What about the growing mediums, the feedstock and what about disposal of the feedstock? There are so many questions we have to answer.

Caroline Sorlin, Bel Group:
There are plenty of questions we can’t answer now, but three years ago we didn’t talk about this so imagine in three years how things will have changed dramatically. I believe there is a good way to proceed by giving the chance to new technologies. If we manage to overcome the barriers, it could be a great way to feed the growing planet in a sustainable way. We need to give chances and work together to achieve that despite all the difficulties Hadar listed; there are a lot of things to do for the dairy industry too. There is still a need for both approaches, they are completely different but there is a need.

Max Rye, Turtletree:
Singapore is so progressive in this area because of food security, it is hard to get meat and milk there. In California, we have massive drought, so we’re not that far away from our own food security issues. What we are building today may not be a luxury, it may be a necessity at some point, so these types of solutions are incredibly valuable. People will answer these questions regarding culture media, nutritional value etc., but if we don’t do this technology now, we are setting ourselves up for a catastrophe down the road.