The first lab-grown burger was consumed at a London conference in 2013 – but it cost hundreds and thousands of dollars to make. Since then, companies have exploded in developing meat grown within a laboratory. According to Crunchbase, in 2021, nearly a billion dollars will be invested worldwide in start-ups that produce cell-cultured beef and chicken. This investment will be primarily used by companies that are looking to make chicken, beef, and fish at a reasonable cost. Some start-ups, however, are focusing on the luxury food sector, with the aim of creating meat alternatives that are not only sustainable but also indulgent.
Geneusbiotech and Wageningen University & Research are developing Magiccaviar to compete with the costly delicacy of caviar. Geneusbiotech’s luxury products include the product made from fish roe, which is made using cells from sterlet and beluga sturgeons. Recently, the company announced its cell-based fur named Furoid.
Researchers at Osaka University in Japan are using 3D printing technology and cell culture to produce cultivated Wagyu Beef. They even mimic the fat streaks of the traditional Wagyu product. Scientists claim that they can also tailor each piece of beef to individual tastes and fat preferences by using 3D printing.
Cell-cultured meat is only currently legal in Singapore. However, other countries have begun to move towards this. There are many issues that cell-cultured foods aim to tackle–sustainability, transparency, and food shortages, to name a few–but as we noted in our Haute Veganism trend from “The Future 100: 2022,” high-end dining experiences are the next evolution when it comes to changing consumer attitudes around climate-friendly dining.