Will the cultured meat trend take off in the UK?

As of last month, cultivated meat was officially allowed into the US market as two brands – Upside Foods and Eat Just – received the green light from regulators. Lab-grown meat has been available in Singapore since 2020, but as the first breakthrough in a major market, the approval was big news.
Following the milestone moment, Eat Just’s CEO Josh Tetrick said the approval “further legitimises cultivated meat as an industry, as a technology”.
But what does the UK’s cultured meat industry look like?

What is cultured meat?

Cultured meat, also known as cultivated meat or lab-grown meat, is made by culturing animal cells. This means meat can be produced without slaughtering animals, and without the environmental impact of large-scale farming.
Rich Dillon, CEO of Ivy Farm, one of the UK-based companies looking to kick-start cultured meat production in this country, sees huge potential in the growing sector. “The global market for meat substitutes was estimated to be valued at $1.9bn in 2021, and is projected to reach $4bn by 2027, which highlights just how considerable the market prospects for meat substitutes are,” he said.

Ivy Farm plans to serve customers cultivated meat in the “near future”, he added, as the business awaits regulatory approval.
By 2035, cultured meat could make up almost a quarter of global meat consumption, according to a report by GovGrant. Much of this growth could be seen in the UK, as the report said British companies have received £28.55m in investment, the fifth highest in the world.
As well as Ivy Farm, other companies making waves in this space include Uncommon (formerly HigherSteaks) and Hoxton Farms.

Where do consumers stand?

As with any new trend, from functional ingredients to vegan cheese, consumers – and retailers, for that matter – have a learning curve. 
Do producers anticipate any resistance from consumers about so-called lab-grown meat? Rich believes there is plenty of appetite for these alternative products. 
In particular his business, and others like it, aim to target not vegans and vegetarians, but flexitarians and those consumers who don’t want to give up meat, despite its environmental impact. 

“We expect the consumers unwilling to give up meat – 90 % of the US still eat meat, for instance – will be persuaded to switch to cultivated meat. This is backed up by a study in the journal Foods, which indicates a high level of openness across the UK and US – over 80% of those surveyed were either highly or moderately likely to try cultivated meat given the opportunity,” he explained.

A report last year by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) showed more conservative results, with a third of UK consumers saying they would try cultured meat.

When will be able to buy cultured meat in the UK?

Most consumers want to know if cell-cultured meat is safe or healthy. US regulators declared the products were safe for human consumption, but the FSA has yet to approve these products in the UK.
What stands in the way? “The current novel food regulation in the UK, which needs to be more flexible in order to adapt to modern innovations, is one of the main hurdles our industry is facing,” Rich said. “In contrast, companies like GOOD Meat and Upside Foods in the USA and Singapore already enjoy the advantages of a more transparent, agile regulatory framework that promotes the growth of the cultivated meat industry.”

He believes the FSA will take a similar approach as technology rapidly advances.
What’s more, as with any new product, costs are high. “As demand rises and we scale up production, this cost will lower,” he said. Ivy Farm, for instance, has plans for a new manufacturing plant that will allow it to produce 12,000 tonnes of cultivated meat per year.

Should fine food retailers stock cultured meat?

Only time will tell how consumers respond to seeing cultivated meat on shelves. The question also remains whether stocking these products makes sense for fine food retailers.
Rich believes crossover between innovative food tech companies and artisan producers and retailers is possible. In fact, Ivy Farms has partnered with UK artisan meat producer, Finnebrogue, to produce cultivated Wagyu burgers once the industry has the green light from regulators.

However, the drive for many producers of cultured meat is to replace lower-quality and less-sustainable products from supermarket shelves with a more environmentally friendly option. 
Rich explained, “We believe the partnership will also showcase how cultivated meat can work with traditional farming, helping to reduce the pressure on producers to intensify operations to meet growing demand, while boosting consumer choice and reducing the impact Wagyu meat has on the environment.”

While this is a worthy cause, for fine food retailers who already stock lower-impact and often locally produced meat, the continued support of producers who follow regenerative practices might be more attractive than taking a chance on a food tech brand.
The prospect may seem far off, but the approval seen in the US market should get retailers thinking about how they might respond if – or when – cultured meat makes a breakthrough here in the UK.