Alternative Meat Companies: Who Are They And How Are They Changing The Game?

What is alternative meat?

Alternative meat is usually food which is made entirely from plants, intended to replicate the form of meat without replicating any of the animal suffering and cruelty that goes into actual meat. Alternative meat comes in the form of sausages, burgers, bacon, steaks, nuggets—almost anything you can think of!! It might be made from vegetables and legumes (think of the beloved veggie burger) or proteins and extracts from peas, soy beans, wheat and more. Alternative meat often copies the texture, appearance and even taste of meat. 

And, thanks to recent scientific developments, alternative meat companies are offering products that are still technically meat... but grown in a lab, without any animal suffering or death connected to it. Read on to find out more!

The rise of the alternative meat industry

Alternative meat is a booming industry. In 2021, the alternative meat market reached 14 billion globally and this is expected to grow, totaling around 235 billion by 2032. Traditional meat-based restaurant chains and food and meat companies, including McDonalds, Burger King, Tyson and Nestle, have added alternative meat options to their product lists.

Origins of alternative meat

Meat alternatives are nothing new. Tofu was established as a plant-based protein source as early as 200 BCE. In 1877, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg-founder of the famous Kellogg's brand of breakfast cereals—developed alternative meat from nuts, grains, and soy to feed patients in his Battle Creek Sanitarium.

But it was in the 21st century that alternative meat really took off. Key early players like Quorn and Gardein entered the North American market in 2002 and 2003 respectively, while 2009-onwards saw a boom of new alternative meat companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

Alternative meat has developed for a range of reasons over the years. Early pioneers (like Dr. Kellogg!) emphasized the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, while in the 1970s American author Frances Moore Lappé proposed it as a solution to concerns about global food distribution issues. "What I wanted to get across is that our current food system is inefficient, unjust, illogical and destructive," Lappé told the New York Times years later. "We need not have hunger." The answer, she explained in her bestselling 1971 book Diet For A Small Planet, was a plant-based diet.

As the decades have passed, climate change, social justice movements and growing awareness of the suffering and cruelty animals experience in the name of the meat industry have boosted alternative meat's popularity and appeal.

Market growth

As we've seen, alternative meat is a growing industry with a trackable rise. But that rise has not been entirely untroubled. While the alternative market has seen booms—like the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, when the market shot up 33%-growth has also slowed. In 2021, for example, sales rose 17%, just half of the previous year's growth. Read on to discover some of the challenges facing the alternative meat market.

Types of alternative meat companies

In their effort to corner different aspects of the market, as well as providing different flavors, textures and products, alternative meat companies pursue different types of alternative meat using different methods and ingredients.

Plant-based meat

Plant-based meat might sound obvious: it's made from plants! But in actual fact, there are lots of different plants used in different ways to create plant-based meats. Common ingredients include legumes (like soybeans or lentils), grains (like quinoa), vegetable proteins (especially pea protein), coconut oil and vital wheat gluten (better known as seitan). Different companies use different ingredients for different tastes, textures and products.

The way plant-based meat mimics animal meat is by taking advantage of the elements both plants and meat have in common: protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Companies who create plant-based meat, like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, use these common elements in a manufacturing process to create the muscle-like texture we associate with meat.

Cell-based meat

Another alternative to traditional meat, cell-based meat (also called cultivated, cultured, clean or lab-grown meat) offers a way to provide the exact same meat product... without a living animal's suffering and death.

Scientists harvest a small sample of cells from an animal, then cultivate these cells to grow a cut of meat outside of an animal's body. For example, a small sample of cells taken from a cow could be grown into a steak, sausages, ground beef and more... all without a cow's pain, anguish and untimely death.

Winston Churchill actually predicted cell-based meat in 1931, but the first people to produce cell-based meat were Professor Mark Post and his team at Maastricht University in 2013. They were followed by companies including UPSIDE Foods, Mosa Meat and Super Meat.

Fermented meat

Fermentation is a relatively new process changing up the alternative meat game. While some plant-based proteins have used fermentation to change their flavor and texture for centuries (like tempeh, which is fermented tofu), the latest spin on fermentation offers new ways to create animal proteins... with no animals involved! 

For example, The EVERY Company (formerly known as Clara Foods) has pioneered a new fermentation process which creates animal-free egg proteins.  Another company, Meati Foods, uses fermented mushroom mycelium to mimic the appearance, taste and texture of meat. 

Fermented meat is particularly appealing to many companies and consumers because it has an extremely low carbon footprint, quick production times and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Top alternative meat companies

The alternative meat market is a crowded field! Here are some of the main players to look out for on your supermarket shelves.

Beyond Meat

Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat is one of the earliest and most popular companies in the alternative meat sphere. With a stated mission of fighting climate change, Beyond Meat produces plant-based burgers, sausages, crumbles and more. They're also the producer behind McDonald's McPlant burger and plant-based McNuggets, which debuted in select stores in 2023.

Impossible Foods

Another company invested in creating a sustainable future via plant-based meat alternatives, Impossible Foods has also seen widespread success, most recently via its partnership with Burger King to provide the Impossible Whopper. Along with not harming any cows, Impossible Foods have shared that making their Impossible Burger uses 95% less land, 74% less water and emits 87% less greenhouse gas than a burger patty made from cow meat.

Mosa Meat

Based in the Netherlands, Mosa Meat uses cell-based meat to produce what it calls "the world's kindest hamburger". Their first burger took years of research and €250,000 to make, but since then their mission has been all about making cell-based meat burgers widely available and affordable, with an entrance to market planned for the next few years pending regulatory approval. 

UPSIDE Foods

Another company in the cell-based meat space, UPSIDE Foods (once known as Memphis Meats) created the world's first cell-based beef meatball, chicken, and duck. In 2022, they closed a $400 million investment series and are now partnering with a range of chef, restaurant and grocer partners in an effort to bring their products to plates.

Finless Foods

Working in the seafood sphere, Finless Foods creates plant-based and cell-based alternatives to fish, particularly bluefin tuna. The first company to sell cell-based fish in the US, Finless Foods also has their eye on other seafood products. Their product pipeline prioritizes creating seafood alternatives that reduce ocean devastation. 

Quorn

More popular in the UK and Europe, Quorn is another long-time player in the plant-based meat market: in fact, it's been around since 1985! Quorn produces a wide range of plant-based meat alternatives, including pies, sausage rolls, meatballs, mince, steak and more.

Challenges for alternative meat companies

It's an unfortunate fact that people often rush to claim alternative meat has "failed". A drop in market growth in 2021 paired with less successful endeavors like McDonald's McPlant burger offers an opportunity to be gloomy about the future of alternative meat. This gloominess doesn't paint an entirely accurate picture of the state of the alternative meat industry (for example, the McPlant Burger may not have taken off in the US... but it's been a huge success globally). However, there are certainly challenges facing alternative meat companies. As advocates of alternative meat, it's important to be aware of these challenges and how we can act to support the rise of alternative meat.

Government regulations

Around the world, government regulation provides both help and hindrance to the alternative meat market. Because so much of alternative meat involves new products—especially in the fermented and cell-based spaces---government regulation is required to ensure these meat alternatives are safe, fairly produced and responsibly marketed. However, this takes time. So far, only Singapore has approved the sale of cell-based meat products, while other countries like Japan, Australia, and the United States are gathering information to inform their regulatory processes. 

Other issues with government regulations crop up with plant-based meat alternatives, particularly in regard to giving plant-based products "meaty" names. Governments in South Africa, France, and Turkey have already restricted the names plant-based meat companies are allowed to use, a move many have called counter-productive.

Cost parity

Unfortunately, animal meat is often still cheaper than plant-based meats, making alternative meats an economic pressure that many people simply can't afford. Emma Ignaszewski, associate director of the Good Food Institute, has explained that plant-based beef is typically twice as expensive as conventional beef and plant-based chicken is four times as expensive as conventional chicken.

The good news? There's been movement in this field, as companies and governments race to make alternative meats an affordable and accessible choice for everyone's table. In 2022, plant-based meat company Rebellyous Foods announced a new production system which manufactures protein alternatives at a price parity with traditional meats. 

Further research, innovation, and support in this space will continue to improve cost parity, particularly as alternative meat companies scale up: "Making the plant-based meat supply chain more efficient and more resilient to risks can result in lower costs for the manufacturer—and ultimately, more affordability for the consumer," Ignaszewski said.

Consumer acceptance

There are all sorts of reasons why consumers might be wary of meat alternatives, from unfamiliarity with the product to suspicion of what's on the label: "Meat has one ingredient and now you're looking at products with 15. People started asking, 'What is methyl cellulose and why am I paying a premium for it?'" said consumer foods analyst JP Frossard. Other consumers might be concerned that plant-based meats are not as environmentally friendly as they seem, considering a lack of transparency over their carbon footprint. Still others simply enjoy eating meat and see it as irreplaceable for their health.

The pandemic boom in alternative meats followed by a slump in consumer uptake since provides a keen opportunity to educate and interest more people in trying out meat alternatives, either as a complete diet change or a "flexitarian" move that reduces our individual environmental impact. And a key factor for change is ensuring that taste remains king!

Benefits of alternative meat

Despite these challenges, the benefits of alternative meat are indisputable. Let's consider a few of the most important.

Health

Switching out meat for plant-based proteins reduces saturated fat and increases the fiber and vitamin content of dishes. Reducing the amount of meat consumption in your diet is proven to have massive benefits for your heart, kidneys, gut, brain, and even skin! Despite myths to the contrary, eating less meat benefits your health in a myriad of ways.

In addition, cell-based meat, even in its early stages, may prove to be much healthier than traditional meat sources. Cell-based meat is free from zoonotic diseases and antibiotics, and its nutrient profile can be controlled, adding to its health benefits.

Animal welfare

The meat industry is devastating for the animals who are caught up in its cruel and murderous machine. 94% of all animals raised for food are on factory farms, where they experience bodily mutilation, crowded and often filthy confinement, forced growth stimulation, and inherently inhumane treatment before their early and violent deaths.

Unsurprisingly, many people who love animals and hate the idea of this cruel and unnecessary suffering have turned to alternative meats. Plant-based meats don't hurt any creature, while cell-based meat is produced from animal cells without requiring ill treatment of the animal themselves.

Environmental action

It's no secret that the meat industry is destroying our environment. The meat industry's impact on the climate is disastrous: a study found that nearly 60% of greenhouse gasses come from food production. The meat industry also ruins crucial natural resources like the Amazon rainforest and pollutes both air and water.

Scientists have conclusively proven that animal-based foods are more resource intensive than plant-based foods. And the need to fight climate change is a major driver behind many of the biggest alternative meat companies, as they reduce the impact on our environment and climate by offering sustainable (and delicious) products.

What you can do

Whether you're already a convert to a plant-based diet or simply curious about reducing or changing your meat intake, alternative meat companies offer an exciting way to experiment and enjoy an ethical and sustainable diet. It's no wonder they're often called "The Future of Food"! 

Ready to give it a shot? Look out for plant-based and fermented meats already available on the market, and keep an eye out for cell-based meat, which should be hitting shelves in the coming years. Whether you're a flexitarian, reducetarian or committed vegan, there will be options out there for you. And we've got some delicious recipes to get you started, too.

You can also learn how to raise awareness for the benefits of alternative meat in your community—including how you can advocate for local restaurants to serve plant-based options—by volunteering with us! Your local field organizer will equip you with everything you need to get active for animals and the planet.