Plant-based innovation persists despite setbacks, while cultivated meat “loses momentum,” flags report

According to data reported by UK-based Appleyard Lees, plant-based innovation remains “historically high” despite a recent dip in figures. Meanwhile, cultivated meat investment and associated patent activity has recently slowed, the organization reports. Food Ingredients First explores the findings and speaks with ProVeg International and the Good Food Institute (GFI) about the new report.

Appleyard Lees’ fourth annual edition of the Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report from the British intellectual property firm reveals a slight fall (7%) in patent filings for plant-based meat technology in 2022, though still reaching the second highest-ever level after 2021 (264 vs. 283). 

This fall in innovation investment comes as sales in plant-based meat declined by 26% in the two years to 2023.

Cultivated investments slow down

Meanwhile, an almost four-fold increase in patent filings for cultivated meat from 2019-2020, and a further increase of more than a fifth to 2021, has shrunk to a 3% uplift in 2022, the latest available data.

Appleyard Lees’ Chris Mason, Partner, explains: “Plant-based meats offer a more environmentally sustainable alternative to ‘real’ meat, but reducing the cost of producing and retailing plant-based meats combined with improving the nutritional profile may be required to reinvigorate the industry.”

“Global investment in cultivated meat and seafood companies fell from US$922.3 million in 2022 to US$225.9 million in 2023. The top five cell-based meat manufacturers accounted for 46.9% of all funds and this created a challenging environment for start-up firms entering the industry.”

Dr. Stella Child, research and grants manager, tells Food Ingredients First: “While start-ups and established food companies are continuing to play a significant role in innovation, we’re seeing governments across Europe step up and fund the necessary R&D for alt-proteins to succeed.”

“Our [GFI’s] recent analysis of Europe’s academic research network revealed these efforts are beginning to bear fruit — with more than a quarter of studies relevant to this field published last year. Governments should invest in more targeted open access research, creating opportunities for this rapidly growing scientific community to collaborate on solving the challenges preventing these foods from being commercialized.”

Meanwhile, Julia Martin, cellular agriculture lead at ProVeg International, believes that cultivated meat “has not lost momentum.”

Country-wise, South Korea has held the lead for innovation ahead of the US, potentially due to the growing popularity of veganism and flexitarianism.“Research and technological progress in cultivated meat is happening at the most advanced level and faster than ever. Recent publications coming from world-leading labs, such as the recent continuous manufacturing paper from the University of Jerusalem, show that good progress is happening.”

Martin highlights that using the number of patents filed to analyze the speed of innovation in cultivated meat is a “poor measure, given that the technology is so early and recent.” 

“The first patents that were filed early on required much less development, time and funding than the ones associated with the upcoming scale-up challenges. In relation to private funding, if one compares volumes of venture capital funding deployed between the peak in 2021 and the downfall that followed the next three years across all technologies, it could make most industries look as if they are losing momentum (except AI).”

“On the contrary, we have seen funding pour over cultivated meat research for open innovation, including the €60 million from the National Growth Fund in the Netherlands in 2022, £12 million allocated to the UK’s CARMA in 2023, US$18 million for cultivated meat consortiums in Israel in 2023, and the recent £1.6 million for the UK cell-based foods regulatory sandbox. This kind of funding allows for the incorporation of cultivated meat in country-level strategies and ensures support for its development and success,” she explains. 

“Past media excitement and use of disproportionate and bold statements regarding the readiness of cultivated meat may have created a hype bubble that has come to burst, but it is undeniable that the science of cultivated meat is more advanced today than it has ever been,” Martin shares. 

“Public and private funders will continue investing and supporting cultivated meat research so that the progress continues advancing steadily.”

Pea and soy innovation grows in parallel

 A fall in recent sales for plant-based meat may be driven by consumer concerns with processed foods, poor eating experiences compared with conventional meats and the 77% price premium by weight. 

Appleyard Lees notes that this, along with a possible impact from COVID-19, could be blamed for the blip in patent filings after unbroken growth since 2014.

That said, 2022’s second-highest level of innovation for plant-based technologies has seen patent filings for pea protein and soy jointly leading the pack, with wheat in third place and tofu and tempeh showing the only increase in patent applications in the latest data. 

In terms of the innovation focus, patents aimed at food texture are overtaking those for flavor. 

Notable companies in the field include Nestlé, which focuses on protein binders, connective tissue analogs and texture improvements, and Roquette Freres, which concentrates on patents for the texture and flavor of pea protein.

Cultivated meat: a sector with challenges 

 Stalled innovation activity in this sector may result from companies focusing on scaling up production to commercialize their inventions. However, Appleyard Less suggests that the latest patent filings seek to protect applications, including equipment and methods to reduce production costs and increase capacity, such as bioreactors and suspension cell cultures. 

These innovations are accompanied by other activities in culture media with additional nutritional components and ingredients, plus ways to mimic actual meat texture, smell and taste in cultured meat.

In this area of alternative meat innovation, the US leads the field, followed by Europe and South Korea. The US company leading the sector for patent filings, Upside Foods, gained the first regulatory approval for any cultivated meat product in the US in 2022 for cultivated chicken. Patent filings in the UK, which constitute more than 10% of the global total, are mainly coming from Oxford University spin-out, Ivy Farm Technologies. 

Appleyard Lees offers patent, trademark, design, copyright and IP strategy services to clients across various sectors and industries.Alice Smart, an associate at Appleyard Lees, adds: “Improving plant-based meats is still a topic that investors and governments see as a potential solution to the issues of environmentally sustainable food production.”

“In cultivated meat, scaling up is the current focus and the biggest obstacle to development faced by the more established companies. The desire to create an affordable and sustainable product is driving innovation in high-volume methods, accelerated production and ways to make the culturing process more efficient. This push to scale up will need to move in parallel with progressive regulatory and funding environments to see this industry of high potential move to the next level.”

Child at GFI Europe, adds: “Cultivated meat companies are rightly focusing on scaling up production, but many smaller start-ups face challenges accessing the funds necessary to build these large plants, so we also need to see more governments and businesses expanding access to critical infrastructure. 

“Developments such as the open-access scale-up facility being planned by the Dutch government-funded cellular agriculture consortium will play a vital role in offering companies access to equipment and facilities, helping avoid products getting stuck in development and ensuring Europe can compete with other regions,” she concludes.