Occupying a middle ground between meat and vegetable sits a group of foodstuffs known as ‘alternative proteins’ that are beginning to attract a lot of interest, as well as some serious investment.
Alternative proteins are derived from a variety of sources. Some come from plants such as cereals, legumes, tubers and nuts, others from fungi such as mushrooms, or algae such as seaweed.
Other sources, though, include insects; proteins derived from biomass or precision fermentation; and cultured or ‘lab-grown’ meat using animal cells.
They are designed to taste the same as or better than conventional animal products while costing the same or less. Compared to conventionally produced proteins, alternative proteins are said to require fewer inputs, such as land and water, and generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less pollution.
Many plant-based and fermentation-derived options are available to consumers today, such as soya and pea protein, and tempeh. But products such as cultivated meats are still largely in the development stage.
None of this has gone unnoticed by the UK Government, which is estimated to have put £75m behind research and innovation into alternative proteins since 2021.
This backing culminated in the announcement late last year of a National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre, which is based in four key university hubs in Scotland, Leeds, Sheffield, and London.
This £38m entity (£15m of direct Government investment and £23m from public and private sector bodies) is backed by more than 300 industry partners and over 50 academic institutions with the aim of developing a national protein strategy.
But why do we need one, what benefit will it bring, and what exactly are alternative proteins anyway.
The reason for looking into alternative proteins is that animal agriculture is estimated to produce up to a fifth of planet-warming emissions. And with the global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, the demand for protein is expected to rise significantly.
The UN Environment Programme estimates that meat consumption alone could increase by as much as 50% by 2050.
As the global population rises, supplementing traditional agriculture with alternative protein sources is hugely important if we want to meet this increasing demand in a more sustainable way.
It was a point made earlier this year when the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) urged the Government to support the development of more nutritious and sustainable plant-based foods.
It’s latest Carbon Budget report highlighted the importance of developing tastier and more affordable foods, such as plant-based meat, as part of a series of measures needed to address the climate impacts of UK diets. It also said that increased consumption of plant-based foods ‘would lead to significant public health benefits’.
As other sectors of the economy decarbonise, it forecast that agriculture – currently responsible for 11% of UK greenhouse gas emissions – would be the second highest-emitting sector by 2040, after aviation.
It pointed to ‘peer-reviewed research’ which it said showed that plant-based meat generated up to 94% less emissions than conventional meat.
The Carbon Budget report also cited separate analysis which has found that because plant-based meat requires less land, it could actually enable increased domestic food production and reduce reliance on imports.
And alternative proteins are now seen as a valuable tool in supplementing plant-based foods generally to make our diets both more sustainable and healthier.
The idea behind NAPIC is that it will span the entire alternative protein supply chain and encourage innovation in a variety of protein sources - from plant-based proteins and lab-grown meats to protein-rich algae. It is hoped the science and research involved will help the UK to strengthen its position as a leader in this rapidly expanding global market.
It aims to do this by driving research and innovation, bolstering the alternative proteins sector in the UK, and helping to ‘turn ideas into reality’.
Professor Anwesha Sarkar is the NAPIC project leader and director of Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds’s School of Food Science and Nutrition.
She says the decision to set up the centre is recognition by the Government of the importance of alternative proteins in achieving Net Zero targets while addressing protein security, equity and global health goals.
Sarkar says: “NAPIC is a truly pan-UK centre with global reach and our mission is to be an ‘innovation enabler’ for rapidly evolving alternative protein industries, delivering a universally healthy, acceptable, accessible, eco-friendly food system by harnessing the UK’s world-class science.
“We have an exceptional, interdisciplinary leadership team with world-recognised competencies in food science, microbiology, biochemistry, engineering biology, nutrition, data science, economics, agribusiness, environmental science, consumer science and psychology.
“NAPIC’s ambition is to develop a clear roadmap for safe and healthy alternative-rich foods, feeds, and breakthrough technology through creating start-ups and new businesses while enabling consumer and farmer acceptance.”
The economic argument for diversifying our protein supply to include foods produced using precision fermentation is that it could deliver significant benefits beyond the obvious health and sustainability ones.
Even under the least optimistic scenario, it is expected that the global market could be worth £226 billion by 2035.
And one estimate from the independent think tank the Green Alliance, in its report Appetite for Change, indicates that the UK’s alternative protein industry has the potential to add £6.8 billion each year to the country’s economy and create 25,000 jobs by 2035.
It backs the claim by adding: “The UK has several sources of competitive advantage, including some of the world’s highest food quality and safety standards, significant consumer demand for alternative protein products, a strong science base and a burgeoning domestic industry to build upon.”
However, despite the bullishness behind these projections and the ambitions of NAPIC there are still reasons to be cautious about just how transformative alternative proteins can be.
For instance, complex meat products such as steak will be hard to mimic in terms of structure and taste, and we also have little idea at this early stage about the environmental impact or how expensive such products will be when produced on a large-scale, nor how energy-intensive the production process may be.
And the nutrient composition of some plant-based meat alternatives is considered ‘sub-optimal’ because of the high amounts of sodium and saturated fat that are currently used to make them.
Nevertheless, alternative proteins look like they are set to become a regular feature on the menus of tomorrow and part of the protein mix that we will need to feed a world population that is not only growing right now, but has an expanding middle class keen to embrace the protein-rich diet of the west.