India also has skin in the game.

◊ By Humane Society International/India

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The Cultivated Meat Market worldwide is estimated to reach USD 214 million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 593 million by 2032, recording a CAGR of 15.7% from 2025 to 2032 in the normal course of events. (3)

Thus, the Clean Meat sector is bound to witness a surge in the number of start-ups and investment in the coming years.

China and India have been identified as the prime countries for conducting consumer surveys due to rising populations.

The development of cultivated meat products will require a combined focus into different technology areas – the 4 key areas for scientific research being Cell Lines, Cell Culture Media, Scaffolding and Bioreactors.

Developing and testing cultivated meat at lab-scale, and then transitioning to commercial-scale, will require the multidisciplinary expertise of research institutions, working together to optimise each of these technologies.

INDIAN SCIENTISTS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING CULTURED LAMB MEAT

One of the Indian research institutes spearheading this movement in India, is the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), an ICMR-affiliated premier institute.

In 2018, Humane Society International/India partnered with the institute to develop and promote the cultivated meat sector.

Further, the Atal Incubation Centre at CCMB (a biotechnology and life-sciences start-up incubator) provides an ideal platform for cultivated meat start-ups to develop and commercialise their products.

In 2019, CCMB was awarded the first government grant towards cultivated meat research—the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, awarded a grant of Rs 4.5 crore for a 2-year project to develop cultivated lamb.

So far, the institute has focused on two primary aspects – the first one is the development of stable cell lines, where the scientists have been working with biopsies obtained from young sheep, and isolated stem cells from the muscle to observe its proliferation capabilities, ensuring the cell line behaved the same way through multiple generations.

China and India will emerge as potential markets for Cultivated Meat.

In 2019, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology was awarded a Rs 4.5-crore grant by the Indian govt for a 2-year project to develop cultivated Lamb.

They have also worked on developing artificial cell culture media, to transition away from fetal bovine serum, though a commonly used medium, but having severe ethical shortcomings in how it is sourced.

Having identified a few synthetic growth factors, they are now testing these as a replacement for commercial growth factors.

The National Meat Research Centre on Meat (NRCM), also a part of the DBT grant, is working on consumer perception research, analysing public opinion on cultivated meat.

While CCMB is confident that large-scale cultivated meat can be developed in a few years, there are a few technology areas that need to be of greater focus of more scientific research in the coming years  –  such as increasing the number of cell divisions and developing stable cell lines for longer than 50 generations, the creation of suitable scaffolds and bioreactor designs, creating the multicellular architecture of conventional meat, and much more.

The role of scientific institutions to carry out research that will enable the commercialisation of these technologies, is imperative to the growth of the sector.

WHAT IS CULTIVATED MEAT?

“That gloomy Utopia of tabloid meals need never be invaded,” wrote Winston Churchill in his 1931 essay, Fifty Years Hence.

What Churchill foresaw eight decades ago was the possibility of meat grown through cells, instead of raising animals for slaughter.

Although 30 years behind schedule, we are on track to a sustainable future, with cultivated meat to be on our plates in a few years.

Cultivated Meat (also known as Clean Meat, or Cell-Based Meat) is obtained from the in vitro cultivation of animal cells instead of from slaughtered animals.

The Cultivated Meat Market worldwide will reach USD 214 million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 593 million by 2032.

In 2016, there were only 4 companies operating in this sector. In 2020, there are over 30.

To put it simply, cultivated meat is produced by taking a small sample of cells—usually from lean muscle but can also be different types of cells: fat, blood, connective, etc, that are then replicated in a culture outside of the animal.

The sensory and nutritional profile of this lab-grown meat is the same as conventionally sourced animal meat because of the same cell type and three-dimensional structure.

Hence, it isn’t an imitation or synthetic meat, but actual animal meat, grown outside their bodies.

And like Churchill said, “Nor need the pleasures of the table be banished,” cultivated meat can replicate your favourite sourced meat from any animal that has muscle-specific stem cells, and that encompasses all the common animals used for food: mammals, birds and fish.

WHY CULTIVATED MEAT IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

The world will have 3 billion more mouths to feed by 2050, with the global population reaching the 9-billion mark in the next 30 years.

Our current systems of food production that depend on intensive factory farming to source animal protein are deemed unsustainable by scientists.

Globally, most Cultivated Meat companies are in prototype phase.

Industry leaders such as Memphis Meats, CUBIQ Foods and Mosa Meats, will dish out cultivated meat at a premium price and limited scale in 2021.

The moral reputation of conventionally grown meat is shrinking, as its global consumption rises steadily.

Countless animals crammed together in unsanitary and sickening conditions, alarming greenhouse gas emissions, human health hazards related to its consumption, and astronomical use of land, water and energy, are parking us at the gateway of ecological havoc.

Currently, plant-based meat constitutes only 1% of the Global Meat Market, which means more than 99% of the meat is sourced through animals.

The current practices of genetic manipulation of these animals to improve efficiency doesn’t do much as raising them, still requires a vast amount of land, water and energy resources to support the animal’s day-to-day metabolism.

The only panacea to address the complex and varied challenges lies in improving our production systems and looking for innovations that will work like a magic bullet.

Researchers opine that cultivated meat can prove helpful in overhauling our production systems and dishing out sustainable, animal-friendly and healthier meat options on our future plates.

The in vitro cultivation of animal cells helps us to produce meat with fewer resources and less environmental impact. Empirical evidence corroborates this claim.

The results of comparisons with 9 reputable life cycle analyses of conventional U.S. chicken and beef production evidence show that compared to conventional beef, cultivated beef is approximated to bring down land use by more than 95%, climate change emissions by 74%-87% and nutrient pollution by 94%.

Cultivated chicken will need 35%-67% less land and would lessen nutrient pollution by 70%. (1)

Grown in a sterile facility, cultivated meat eliminates the risk of contamination by harmful pathogens, such as Salmonella and E. Coli, which are widely prevalent in factory farms.

It will also help address another grave danger to human health posed by use of antibiotics in farm animals, which causes antibiotic resistance.(2)

And, the most uplifting promise of cultivated meat: it will reduce animal suffering.

Although animal cells are needed to grow this meat, the number of animals required is dramatically reduced, thus eliminating the need for animals to be intensively confined and their lives cut short abruptly as is the case with conventionally grown meat.

From reaping environmental, human health and ethical gains, cultivated meat is a win-win for all.

GROWTH OF ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN & CULTIVATED MEAT MARKET

Picking up on the sustainability quotient, the cultivated meat sector has seen some steady growth in 2019, as entrepreneurial investment continued to accelerate, and more governments across the globe acknowledged that the future of protein is cultivated meat.

Globally, most of the cultivated meat companies are in the prototype phase, with the industry leaders, such as Memphis Meats, CUBIQ Foods, and Mosa Meats, expected to dish out cultivated meat at a premium price and limited scale, initially by 2021.

The number of companies entering this space is also increasing at a rapid rate – in 2016 there were only 4 companies operating in this sector. Now, there are over 30.

Start-ups in this niche ecosystem are pursuing more than 15 varieties of meat, based on their desirability—defined by their technical features related to ease of cultivation and appeal to the companies’ first target markets.

Until recently, these companies were focusing on developing vertically integrated meat production platforms, but since 2019, they have begun looking for horizontal entry points.

More upstream suppliers and downstream opportunities in supply chain, distribution, marketing, and foodservice corroborate for this transformation.

PALATABILITY OF CULTIVATED MEAT: CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS & DEMANDS

Increasing awareness among consumers about the environmental, animal welfare and health implications of conventionally grown animal meat is diminishing its palatability, leaving a bitter after taste on their conscience.

Cultivated meat can be an answer to all the environmental, ethical and health concerns that stem from the current system of meat production, but its efficacy depends upon their potential to displace the demand for conventional meat.

Cross-country research conducted to study the variability in acceptance of cultivated meat helps us understand the multitude of factors that will play a defining role in building back our future for the better.

Due to the rise in per capita income, the meat consumption in these countries is expected to increase in the coming decades.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization forecast, the world is going to witness a 73% rise in demand for meat by 2050 from developing countries. (4)

Thus, it becomes crucial to understand consumer perceptions about cultivated meat in these countries.

According to a research conducted to study the perceptions of consumers in the USA, China, and India, the meat-eating population in the country is more likely to purchase clean meat.

Statistics paint a favourable purchase likelihood, with 32.9% being somewhat or moderately likely, and 56.3% were very or extremely likely to purchase clean meat (5).

The purchase intent is amplified when they perceive it as ethical, appealing, and necessary.

Furthermore, the findings of the survey highlight that clean meat is more likely to be purchased by people in high income brackets, are politically liberal and the ones who already know about the concept of clean meat.

Overall, Asia-Pacific countries, especially China and India will emerge as potential markets for cultivated meat.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Humane Society International/India is actively working towards several animal welfare causes, including institutional meat reduction.