Alternative Proteins

Alternative Proteins

1. Cell Based/Lab Grown Meat

   • Production
     • Very expensive to produce- facility alone would be $450M to produce 10Kton/year
     • Facility size would be the biggest EVER to house the bioreactor
     • Slaughter Free
     • Possibility of being used as an additive but not replacement to animal proteins due to the facility sizes and cost
   • Consumer Acceptance
     • May be hard for consumers to grasp the idea of meat made from a cell
     • Many consumers might struggle with the texture/smell being different from animal proteins
       • May also be differences in nutritional profiles
         • Very high in sodium
     • The price will most likely be higher compared to animal proteins, making this product hard to obtain for some
     • May not be considered as a Kosher product because of the animal cells
   • Sustainability
     • Will use less water than animal proteins
     • Will need large factories to mass produce
     • Will likely produce more GHG than animal protein production due to the large facilities needed to grow the meat
     • Won't need as much land to feed animals

2. Animal Proteins

   • Production
     • Production process concerns
       • Feeding cattle corn instead of their "natural" high fiber diet to make the animal more efficient
       • Living in confinement for most of their lives
     • Animal Health
       • Use of antibiotics is controversial
       • Use of squeeze chutes
       • Closely monitored by producers
       • Consumer Acceptance
         • Consumers already know what animal proteins are and what is in them
         • Consumers typically prefer the taste and texture of animal proteins more than alternative proteins
         • Consumers are willing to pay for animal proteins
         • Sustainability
           • Huge amount of water consumption for cattle
           • Eruct methane into the atmosphere
           • Uses a lot of land for crops to feed animals, grazing land
           • Animals also have co-products that are made with what is left of the animal after the meat is harvested
       • Highly regulated by the USDA and FDA
     • Production process advantages
       • Efficient at feeding cattle
       • Easy to manage a large number of animals because they are all in one space

3. Plant-Based Meat

   • Production
     • At this point the production process has been efficient enough to have plant-based meat available in grocery stores and fast food restaurants
     • Production process is faster than growing animal protien
   • Consumer Acceptance
     • There is a divide between animal protein consumers and plant-based
     • Plant-based is a little more expensive than animal protein
     • Many consumers don't like the taste and texture difference from animal protein
     • Plant proteins don't have the same nutritional value as animal protein
     • Is considered Kosher so can be used as a substitute to animal proteins
   • Sustainability
     • Uses less water than animal proteins
     • Using plants as food is very sustainable because it doesn't use so many nonrenewable resources
     • Don't use the land to feed animals