Examining the potential of plant-based meat : a technology foresight by 2028 through patent landscaping and scenario building / Louise Mari E. Bautista

Date : May 2018
Number of Pages : 68 leaves
Adviser : Prof. Glen A. Imbang

Abstract

Synthetic biology (Synbio) can change the way we produce food by creating novel biological pathways to create food components, from chicken-less egg whites to animal free-meat, through fermentation. This means that anything a biological system produces can be brewed and grown like beer, starting first with individual proteins such as gelatin, and scaling upwards to more complex structures like meat. The food sector is already facing issues in sustainability from energy and water constraints, to limitations on cultivatable land. These issues will only become more pressing as we try to meet the growing need for food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050. In the US alone, Americans consume the highest per capita amount of meat, eating on average 71 pounds of red meat (beef, pork and lamb) a year. The Philippines are also a growing market in meat consumption with roughly 37.5 pounds of red meat per capita in 2017.

Synbio can be harnessed to produce food with the same nutritional value at a much lower environmental foot print, without using livestock. Startups like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are already offering animal-free meat burgers at selected restaurants like Whole Foods. The sales of meat substitutes in the US are up 18% from $850 million in 2012, to more than $1 billion in 2016. The global meat substitutes market is projected to reach $5.96 billion by 2022, primarily driven by demand for plant-based sources of protein. Since 2012, investments to synbio startups working in food and beverage production has risen quickly, with 2015 hitting a high of $134 million, and the deals are increasing every year. 

Patent search in the plant-based meat sector of synbio revealed that 12.9% of the total patents are currently assigned to the top five assignees. The absence of any dominant player in this nascent but rapidly growing industry may present an opportunity of new entrants. Potential startups in the Philippines that would enter this market may have freedom-to-operate due to the lack of patent applications in the plant-based meat subject matter in the country. The priority territories covered by patents in the field are China, United States and Korea, with the Philippines only having a single application from Nestec, the top patent owner in the field. Different scenarios were also identified where plant-based meat would play a major role as a significant protein source, as well as its implications to the Philippines. The study explored the potential direction and developments of this technology in the next 10 years.