Study: More than half of humanity's 'meat' will not come from animals by 2040 - www.businessgreen.com

Report estimates 35 per cent of meat will come be cultivated in labs and 25 per cent will be vegan alternatives

Within 20 years most of the 'meat' in humanity's diet will come not from animals, but will either be cultivated in labs or manufactured from plant-based alternatives, according to a new report launched last week by consultancy AT Kearney.

Researchers interviewed a raft of industry experts who emphasised the environmental impacts of animal-based meat production, currently worth more than $1tn annually, ranging from inefficient land use to methane produced by livestock to devastating deforestation to make room for pasture.

Almost half the world's crops are fed to livestock, the report notes, but only 15 per cent of those plant calories end up as nutrition for humans.

With solutions for increasing the efficiency of conventional meat production almost exhausted, consumers will have to turn to alternative if the world is to meet essential emission reductions, the study argued.

The report estimates 35 per cent of all meat will be cultured and 25 per cent will be vegan replacements by 2040. In contrast to animal protein, such products pass on around three-quarters of their input calories to the human diet.

Firms such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meats are spearheading the explosion in plant-based meat alternatives, with AT Kearney estimating that $1bn has been invested in such products to date.

Other companies are working on growing meat cells in culture and while no such products have yet been commercialised, the report emphasises their long-term potential to disrupt the conventional meat market given their ability to reproduce the taste and feel of conventional meat.

"The large-scale livestock industry is viewed by many as an unnecessary evil," the report concludes. "With the advantages of novel vegan meat replacements and cultured meat over conventionally produced meat, it is only a matter of time before they capture a substantial market share."

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