Lab-meat dubbed one of 2023's biggest technology failures

The Review found thin layers of cells were then being manually scooped up and pressed into chicken pieces. File image.

It has been a difficult year for alternative proteins, topped off by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review assessment that laboratory-grown meat is one of the worst technology failures of 2023.

The billions per year ploughed by investors into the alternative protein sector since 2018 have shrank, and might fall further after the world-renowned MIT Technology Review suggested that "cultured" or "cultivated" meat is an example of the spirit of innovation pulling ahead of reality, sometimes with unpleasant consequences, such as finding convoluted ways to keep hopes alive.

The Review magazine cited the example of Upside Foods in Berkeley, California, which had raised more than half a billion dollars of investment.

Visiting journalists were shown rows of big steel bioreactors, but found the company was growing chicken skin cells in much smaller laboratory flasks.

Thin layers of cells were then being manually scooped up and pressed into chicken pieces. The Review magazine said Upside was using lots of labour, plastic, and energy to make hardly any meat.

Samir Qurashi, a former employee, told the Wall Street Journal: “It’s the ‘fake it till you make it’ principle”.

A few bites of lab chicken sell for $45 at a Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. There’s doubt about whether it will ever compete with chicken, which sells for $4.99 a pound in US supermarkets.

Upside Foods said they were disappointed with the article and said they have successfully and repeatedly demonstrated that they can build their technology for large-scale production.

"We will continue to be pioneers addressing the challenge of sustainably feeding a growing global population while minimising environmental impact," the firm commented.

They will be cheered by the recent warning from the World Health Organisation Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus that, "Our food systems are harming the health of people and planet. Food systems contribute to over 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and account for almost one-third of the global burden of disease. Transforming food systems is therefore essential by shifting to healthier, diversified, and more plant-based diets."

"If food systems deliver healthy diets for all, we could save eight million lives per year," Ghebreyesus claimed. "WHO is committed to supporting countries to develop and implement policies to improve diets and fight climate change."

The United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organisation also wants nations that over-consume meat to limit their intake, But politicians in these richer nations shy away from policies aimed at influencing consumer behaviour, especially where it involves cutting consumption of everyday items.

Meanwhile, recommended plant-based diets have lost out due to worldwide food price inflation. According to the Gira drink and food consultancy and market research firm, which operates worldwide, the increased cost of living forced many consumers who actively sought out alternative proteins to shift back to conventional meat and dairy products.

"Increases in unit prices have also been identified as a barrier to retaining consumers in the sector, with plant-based alternatives to meat recording a 9% increase in retail price between 2021 and 2022. Similar levels of increases in retail prices have been recorded for plant-based alternatives to dairy, which have prompted consumers to switch back to what they know in times of reduced financial security", said Gira analysts.

The consultancy and market research firm has reported that the meteoric rise in investment in the alternative protein sector since 2018 was short-lived.

Gira said increased regulation and scrutiny around health and sustainability claims have contributed to the declining levels of investment in the sector, particularly when the sourcing of a long list of constituent ingredients is considered.

A growing list of companies that have failed to find traction in the market has rattled potential investor confidence.

One of the best-known of these companies, Beyond Meat, has yet to turn a full-year profit since it was launched in 2016. It has accumulated losses of nearly €1bn on its balance sheet.

Other alternative protein companies doing badly include many well-known global dairy and meat companies that jumped on the alternative protein bandwagon.

The declining returns in the sector have significantly reduced the availability of venture capital funds, and rising interest rates on existing debts have also frightened off further investment.

Many of the products have been dogged by issues of taste, quality and consistency.

However, there is arguably an open goal for alternative protein companies, because global protein demand continues to grow faster than global meat and dairy production.

The trick is for companies to meet the demands of consumers in terms of taste, texture, sustainability and nutritional value, with alternatives.