In December 2020, Singapore was the first country in the world to approve cell-based agriculture for commercial consumption. Shortly after gaining approval, Eat Just served the first cell-based chicken nuggets at a Singaporean restaurant called 1880.
In even better news, studies show that if cellular agriculture companies adopt renewable energy sources, up to 92% of greenhouse gases could be saved when compared to conventionally-grown meat. While we’re still a few years away from the commercial distribution of these products, the grand hope for this industry is that it can solve food supply chain issues, as well as, reduce the amount of carbon and methane emissions going into our atmosphere from food production industries.
Over one billion dollars has been invested in this industry since Professor Mark Post created the world’s first cell-based burger in 2013.
Cell-based meat companies across Europe and Asia recently polled consumers to see if they would try out this new novel food. The answers were resoundingly "yes". Not surprisingly, the reasons why differed amongst various demographics and cultures. Sustainability was a primary motive for cellular agriculture consumption in studies conducted in both Singapore and Spain. In China, food safety was the top justification--which is not surprising given their history of contaminated food. Cell-based meat was perceived as healthier than conventionally-grown meat. And curiosity about the technology was both an argument for and against it.
Reasons cited for not wanting to try it out included cost, taste, freshness, and being unfamiliar with the cellular agriculture industry. In the China study, respondents were hampered by its “unnaturalness” and “absurdity.”
Shiok Meats, a cell-based crustacean company out of Singapore, found that vegans would try out cell-based products. From a demographics perspective, they discovered that younger respondents (under the age of 40) were most likely to consume it, and that people would be willing to pay 10-20% more for these products because they have fewer chemicals and no hormones or antibiotics.
Although initial studies are positive, it's clear that more education is needed before the majority of consumers worldwide will be confident in testing out this technology on the dinner table. As the industry grows, we'll likely see opposing groups who profit from conventional animal supply chains challenge everything about cellular agriculture. Cellular agriculture companies should use the plant-based milk industry's struggles with nomenclature as a case study for how their conventional opponents may push back.
Some companies have already begun their educational campaigns. Gaia Foods offers tours of their facilities for interested parties who want to learn what the growing and manufacturing process of cellular agriculture looks like. Orbillion is adding traceability, which includes animal genetics and breed history into their products using blockchain. In Israel, Aleph Farms went straight to the top and invited their head of state, Netanyahu, to sample their product. Social scientists are already beginning to analyze the topic as well.