SPECIAL STORY 66 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2023 tional nonprofit think tank helping to build a more sustainable, secure and just food system by diversifying our protein supply. We work with scientists, businesses and policymakers to advance plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation – making them delicious, affordable and accessible across Europe. By making meat from plants and cultivating it from cells, we can reduce the environmental impact of our food system and feed more people with fewer resources. GFI Europe is powered by philanthropy, so we’re independent of the industry. You are an organisation working for the alternative protein industry. Could you first explain what alternative protein means? Alternative proteins deliver the taste and experience of the meat, dairy and seafood that people eat today, but using fewer resources – helping to satisfy growing demand for these foods sustainably. Plant-based meat looks, cooks and tastes like meat – but is made entirely from plants. Cultivated meat is the same meat we eat today, but made in cultivators (like the fermentors used for brewing beer) instead of by farming animals. Fermentation can be used to produce sustainable protein that looks, cooks and tastes like meat. With the rapidly growing world population and rising income levels, the demand for animal proteins is also increasing rapidly. To what extent do you think alternative proteins such as plant and cell-based meat will benefit from this increase in demand? To feed a population of 10 billion and satisfy the global demand for meat which is forecast to grow by 52% by 2050, we need a more efficient system. Plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation offer an excellent opportunity to deliver the meat people want with up to 90% less land and 66% less water than beef. They can be made with indigenous crops, creating new opportunities for farmers, and can be adapted to suit local tastes. Dietary preferences such as vegan and vegetarian diets create an important market for plant-based proteins. However, do you think the same interest will be shown in cell-based meats; especially nowadays when the natural nutrition trend is popular? A recent study shows 80% of consumers in the UK and United States are open to eating cultivated meat, and GFI Europe’s own research suggests between 33% and 65% of consumers in western Europe are already willing to buy it – even at this early stage. There will always be consumers who want to eat animal meat, and cultivated meat can deliver this in an efficient and sustainable way.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==