China embracing lab meat as the future

China is jumping on the vegan bandwagon by signing a deal with Israel which is set to help vegan meat companies to break into one of the world’s biggest economies.

The deal, announced on 11th Sept, will allow Chinese businesses the chance to work with Israeli companies in order to become more environmentally aware, which links in with the government’s new policy to help Chinese citizens to eat less animal products.

It is likely, therefore, that of the eight companies currently producing lab meat, the three Israeli companies will get first dibs at the Chinese market. Whilst SuperMeat, Future Meat Technologies and Meat the Future are likely to get ahead of competitors, opening up the market to the potential of lab meat should only be a good thing for all involved.

Bruce Friedrich, head of The Good Food Institute (GFI), said: “It is a colossal market opportunity, this could put [vegan] meat onto the radar of Chinese officials who have the capacity to steer billions of dollars into this technology.”

The concept of lab meat is proving to be popular in China, with backing coming from big name investors. Even the China Science and Technology Daily, which is a state-run publication, recently published an article which discussed the reasons that lab meat could be preferential to animal farmed meat for a variety of reasons. The article said: “Imagine the future — you have two identical products, one you have to slaughter the cattle to get, the other is exactly the same (and cheaper) with no greenhouse gas emissions, no animal slaughter, which one would you choose?”

One report earlier in the year suggested the potential for lab grown meat, stating: “With meat consumption being continually blamed for negative effects on the environment, lab-grown meat may make its way into the mass market to combat these concerns.”

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