With the increased demand for cruelty-free, alternative meat options, a Japanese cultured meat company -- IntegriCulture Inc -- recently developed a lab-grown foie gras.
Foie gras is the liver of a fattened duck or goose, but to make this product cruelty-free and slaughter-free, the company uses real animal cells to grow a "clean meat" version in a lab that looks, tastes, and cooks like traditional meat.
IntegriCulture Inc plans on having the slaughter-free foie gras served in restaurants in the next two years, however, it currently costs upwards of $1,800 USD per kilogram. The clean meat company hopes to lower the costs to $1.80 USD in order to reach the restaurant market by 2021, and soon thereafter, the consumer market.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Lab-grown Meat
- Opportunity to disrupt the traditional animal farming industry by providing cruelty-free and slaughter-free meat options using real animal cells grown in labs
- Alternative Protein Sources
- Opportunity to disrupt the protein industry by creating new alternative sources such as lab-grown meat to reduce reliance on traditional animal farming
- Cost Reductions for Lab-grown Meat
- Opportunity to make lab-grown meat products more affordable by lowering the costs to reach a wider market
Sectors Adopting This
- Meat Industry
- The meat industry has the opportunity to incorporate lab-grown meat products as part of their offerings to meet the increasing demand for cruelty-free, slaughter-free meat options
- Restaurants and Foodservice Providers
- Restaurants and foodservice providers have the opportunity to cater to the growing demand for alternative meat options by offering lab-grown foie gras and other similar products
- Biotech Industry
- The biotech industry has the opportunity to innovate and improve the methods and technologies used to grow animal cells in labs for lab-grown meat products
