Driven by shrinking arable land, a shift to the consumption of non-meat proteins, and several other factors, ersatz meat products are set to disrupt the lucrative global meat industry. According to management consultants AT Kearney, it is not a matter of if, but when, these products will appear on shelves.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), nearly half of the world’s crop harvest is required to feed a livestock population of 1,4 billion cattle, one billion pigs, 20 billion chickens, and 1,9 billion sheep and goats. Agricultural production directly for human consumption accounts for just 37% of the total harvest (ahead of biofuel, industrial production and others).
Solutions for increasing the efficiency of conventional meat production to meet growing meat demand have been almost exhausted. Arable land is shrinking due to global warming and sprawling cities, and can only be expanded at the cost of losing valuable natural habitats such as rainforests.
The availability of fresh water, particularly in drier areas, is also a problem. According to the FAO and Aquastat, global agriculture today already uses approximately 70% of blue water. This is hardly sustainable.
Resistance to modern agrochemicals is on the rise, soil compaction poses problems, and erosion is an issue. Moving from field to feedlot sees additional challenges to conventional meat production, from antibiotic use to zero tolerance for animal harm.
The agriculture and meat industries have, for the most part, tried to address these difficulties by increasing the efficiency of conventional production methods. But in the long run, this will not be enough to cope with the pressing problems of our food system.
ALTERNATIVES: THE ONLY LONG-TERM SOLUTION
As a result of all these factors, a number of meat alternatives are evolving, each with the potential to disrupt the multibillion-dollar global meat industry.
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