Hi,
Will 2020 be the year of clean meat, lab-grown milk and cultivated fish (no pun intended but the naming of these not-yet-on-the-shelves products can be tricky). After a year dominated by plant-based news from the IPO of Beyond Meat to the deals with QSR chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King, what can expect of 2020?
Here is a selection of three of DigitalFoodLab latest articles (more on our website) that can help to answer this question:
#1 – Perfect day raised $140m to expand its lab-grown dairy
Perfect Day closed a $140m round. It has now raised more than $200m. The startup works on the equivalent of clean meat but for dairy. It has developed a fermentation process (through genetic engineering) that reproduce the various proteins of milk. At the end of the process, you basically have “milk” but without the cow. This process is already working. Earlier this year, the company marketed some ice cream based on its lab-grown milk.
#2 – In 2040, clean meat will be the size of conventional meat
A new report by ATKearney dives in one of the hottest topics of the moment: clean meat (basically, the idea of growing meat in a lab out of a few cells taken from the animal). This technology was seen as far fetched and barely worthy of a bad science-fiction book a few years ago. Now it is more and more seen as a threat (by the meat industry) and met with hope (by environmentalists).
In a growing market (3%/year), they project that in 20 years, cultured meat will represent 35% of the “meat market”, while convention meat will only be 40%.
More here on why that matters (a lot)
#3 – Califia farms raises $225m
Events can be mean. After Dean Foods, USA largest milk processor filed for bankruptcy in November, it is now the turn of Borden, another processor. In the meantime, Califia farms, a well-known plant-based milk alternative startup raised $225m from investors.
The sharp decrease in milk sales in the US from $15 to $12 billion in the last 4 years has created a huge space for plant-based startups such as Califia farms or Oatly.
You still want more, here are some three additional notable events that happened in the last couple of weeks:
- Dejbox, one of France leading meal delivery platforms just got acquired by Carrefour
- uBiome, the microbiome startup was raided by the FBI after billing patients multiple times
- Roquette will significantly increase its pea protein deal with Beyond Meat
As you can see, FoodTech will move faster in 2020. If you are a startup working on changing the world or a corporate/retailer looking to transform yourself into an innovation powerhouse, let’s do that together (contact us).
Have a great week!
Matthieu
