New analysis: cultivated meat could contribute €20-85bn per year to the EU economy and catalyse 3.5Gt of emissions mitigation – if it receives the right investment and support.

If global trends continue, meat consumption is set to grow significantly, with demand increasing by 30% by 2050. However, our food systems are already at capacity. We cannot feed the world’s growing population and protect the planet without fundamental change to the food industry.

Alternative proteins are an important part of this change, as they offer a key solution to meet the increasing demand for meat while staying within planetary boundaries. Cultivated meat is one type of alternative protein, which involves growing meat and other components (like fat) directly from animal cells. Cultivated meat can be used to produce standalone products, or as an ingredient in plant-based products to improve their taste and texture. 

To understand the potential of this new industry within the EU, Systemiq, supported by the Good Food Institute Europe, modelled a range of ambitious yet plausible scenarios where certain technical, regulatory and political milestones for cultivated meat are met. The cultivated meat industry presents a significant opportunity for the EU, with the potential to create economic growth and jobs. For instance, the cultivated meat market in the EU could be worth a combined €15-80bn in new domestic and export markets across the value chain by 2050, contributing €20-85bn to the EU economy every year, and creating up to 90k new high-skilled jobs by 2050. Scaling up the cultivated meat sector in this way could also help to unlock a wider market for plant-based proteins, with broader economic benefits for producers and the agricultural sector.

There are strong environmental arguments too. A future cultivated meat sector that’s successful in unlocking the wider adoption of plant-based products could mitigate up to 3.5 gigatons of GHG emissions – 17% of all the food system’s emissions in 2050, as well as reducing the amount of land required for agricultural use by 22-33%.

However, this potential growth is not guaranteed and depends on decisions being taken now:

  • Governments should retain the existing clear path to regulatory approval for cultivated meat products in key regions, and significantly step up policy support and R&D funding.
  • Up to €5bn of funding (€0.5bn from public sources) is required in the EU annually (to 2050) to unlock this opportunity globally – for R&D, infrastructure build-out and broader supply chain scale-up. 
  • Technological development is needed to improve cell line development, increase efficiency and to scale up cultivated meat-specific bioreactors and equipment. These will be vital to ensuring that cultivated meat can compete on cost with conventional products and scale to the mass market.
  • Last but not least, acceptance from European consumers will be key to a future cultivated meat sector’s success. Consumers need to be confident that cultivated meat is safe and satisfied with its price and performance compared to conventional products. There also need to be commonly accepted product names, and greater awareness of the climate, nature and food security benefits.

At a time when the EU’s future green industrial competitiveness is in the spotlight, the EU should create a supportive policy and regulatory environment to send the right signals to unlock this opportunity and ensure private capital starts to flow.

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