Lab-grown meat, also known as cultured meat, is seen as the future’s alternative to animal meat.

The industry is farther along than many think but it’s still struggling to expand adoption, partly because of its high prices. A startup named Ark Biotech has been trying to reimagine the bioreactor, which could help redefine lab-grown meat’s production process and lower costs.

But would that really help? Here’s everything you need to know about the lab-grown meat industry and how Ark is trying to play a disruptor.

Key Takeaways: Ark Biotech Lab-Grown Meat

  • Lab-Grown Meat vs. Plant-Based Meat: Lab-grown meat is cultivated from animal cells, mimicking real meat’s texture and nutrition, unlike plant-based alternatives.
  • Environmental and Ethical Benefits: Cultured meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, avoid animal slaughter, and lower antibiotic resistance.
  • Industry Challenges: Growth is limited by high production costs, low consumer adoption, and limited regulatory approvals in countries like the US and Singapore.
  • Ark Biotech’s Role: Ark Biotech aims to lower production costs with innovative bioreactors, potentially cutting costs by 90%.
  • Future Potential: Despite its promise, lab-grown meat must overcome cost and consumer barriers for widespread adoption.

What is Lab-Grown Meat and How’s It Different from Plant-Based Meat

Lab-based meat is produced by cultivating animal cells directly which are put in stainless steel bioreactors to grow meat.

It is chemically essentially the same thing so it has the same taste and nutritional value as real meat, without having to slaughter the animal or course.

No animals are needed in the synthesis of lab-grown meat whatsoever (other than to harmlessly collect cultures of cells). Instead, cell types are arranged in a similar structure as animal tissues. This helps replicate the sensory effects as well as the nutritional value of real meat.

Please note: Lab-grown meat is not the same thing as plant-based meat which simply tries to replicate the taste and experience of meat with plant products, especially soya. Unlike the relatively new concept of lab-grown meat, plant-based meat has been around for much longer and has seen quite a lot of success. One company, Beyond Meat, grew so large that it was able to go public and it is now worth over $440 million. In contrast, companies working on lab meat are mostly small startups.

Why Do We Need Lab-Grown Meat?

One of the pertinent questions here could be why we need lab-based meat.

There are four main reasons why lab-based meat can add value. Firstly, it’s generally considered to be a better alternative to plant-based meat which does not have the same texture, taste, and nutritional value.

Secondly, it would help address carbon emissions and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that animals raised for food and dairy account for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that humans eat a lot of meat, but most people don’t know how these billions of animals affect the environment. There are roughly three chickens on earth for every human and the mass of animals raised for meat is 15 times higher than that of other wildlife.

Thirdly, it could help address the ethical dilemma of slaughtering animals for food. Eating meat is often taboo in many religions and cultures. With a growing number of people turning vegan, lab-based meat can be a good alternative.

Finally, because no antibiotics are used in lab-grown meat, it addresses the potentially massive problem of antibiotic resistance.

Animals are often fed with antibiotics to spur their growth and prevent infection, helping potentially deadly bacteria gain resistance against these vital medicines. Also, since there is no animal-human contact in producing cultured meat, it would help eradicate the risk of viruses and other diseases spilling over from animals to humans.

This is incredibly important because many if not most of the world’s worst plagues were caused by constant close contact with animals.

How Big Is the Market for Cultured Meat?

The total size of the global meat industry is well over $1 trillion. In comparison, the cultured meat industry market is miniscule.

Markets and Markets estimated it was a $0.2 billion market in 2023. It however expects the market to grow at a CAGR of 16.1% until 2028 and 16.5% between 2028 and 2033 when it predicts the market size would rise to $1.1 billion.

What’s Plaguing Lab-Grown Meat Market?

The lab-grown meat industry’s growth is plagued by several factors. Firstly, not many countries have approved its sale and Singapore, the US, and Israel are only a handful of countries that allow its sale.

When it comes to meat, religion, and cultural issues are quite important. For instance, lab-grown meat would need to be “halal-certified” before any Muslim country – or even one with a sizeable Muslim population approves it.

Secondly, as farmers and ranchers typically have strong lobbying groups, governments might be wary of approving or subsidizing sales of cultured meat, fearing a backlash.

Thirdly, customer adoption has been quite low, at least in the US. For instance, San Fransico-based Michelin-starred restaurant Bar Crenn stopped selling lab-based meat from Upside Foods within months.

Commenting on the issue, Upside’s interim head of communications, Melissa Musiker, told Wired in an emailed statement, “We are proud to have partnered with Chef Dominique Crenn to make history, from the first-ever US sale of cultivated meat to a series of Upside dinners at Bar Crenn that delighted consumers with a delicious taste of the future.”

Most importantly, however, the price of lab-grown meat is exorbitant compared to real meat and costs almost $17 per pound.

Citing a 2021 report from McKinsey and Company, CNN reported that “For cultivated meat production to reach 1% of the protein market, the industry would need 88 to 176 Olympic swimming pools of fermentation capacity.”

According to the same McKinsey report, the total fermentation capacity of the biopharma industry was less than 10 swimming pools, which shows the troubles with scaling up production of lab-grown meat.

How Is This Startup Solving the Problems?

Ark Biotech, founded by former McKinsey analyst Yossi Quint, is trying to solve the industry’s problem with the production process, specifically the bioreactor.

According to Quint, “We’ve systematically rethought the bioreactor and invented a biomanufacturing platform that predictably scales from bench to commodity scale while maintaining peak performance.”

Speaking at ZERO, a quarterly climate tech event, in 2023, he added, “At scale, our bioreactor is 90% cheaper than the biggest bioreactor in the world today.”

However, even Ark Biotech’s bioreactor might not solve the cultured meat industry’s adoption issue as it still does not have the same structure as real meat.

The lab-grown meat industry needs to come up with much better cost economics and make the product more appealing to consumers. In the absence of these, cultured meat might struggle to gain traction beyond the initial enthusiasts who want an alternative to animal meat for health or ethical reasons.

Climate change is a problem that the world must collectively solve and we must explore all possible solutions. The potential of cultured meat is still understudied (including its environmental impact), which means governments around the world must ensure resources are allocated to such endeavors. For now, a climate-friendly yet affordable burger is still a dream.