Mapping the search for alternative proteins

Growing concern about the effects of climate change on food security is accelerating the search for new sources of alternative protein. Climate change is contributing to land and water scarcity, placing pressure on the world’s food supply as the population continues to grow. There’s also heightened awareness of the environmental impact of livestock farming, which generates an estimated 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Alternative proteins have become increasingly evident in the food chain in the UK and other Western countries since the 1980s. Today, mycoprotein is widely used in meat substitutes, such as Quorn in the UK, as are plant-based proteins, such as pea protein, for example in products made by Beyond Meat. Recognising that many consumers are interested in where food comes from as well as its nutritional value, Eat Just, Inc in California, has recently introduced a new plant-based alternative to egg protein made from mung beans.

Manufacturing alternative proteins at scale and driving down the price of mass production is a key challenge as the push towards food sustainability gathers momentum. To make products from plant-based protein more cheaply, companies are innovating new processing technologies. For example, Japanese company, Hitachi Zosen, has developed machinery that can reduce lab-grown meat production costs by 90%. 

Compounding the cost issue, there is also a cultural aversion to some forms of alternative protein, such as insect protein, particularly in Western countries. In countries such as Mexico and Thailand, insects are considered part of a healthy diet, and they are regarded as a delicacy due to them being a high-protein, low-fat food source. In the UK,  research on insects as a form of edible protein is gathering momentum, in a growing community supported by the UK Edible Insect Association (UKEIA), and the recently-launched National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC). 

Whilst plant-based meat alternatives are now widely available due to growing consumer demand for healthy, cruelty-free alternatives to conventional meat products, the market for cultured or lab-grown meat products has been much slower to develop. As well as being relatively costly to produce, these products may lack the taste, smell and ‘mouth feel’ of meat products, which can make them less appetising to consumers. Whilst food scientists explore ways to make them more ‘meat-like’, cultured meat products are already being used as nutritional additives in popular processed foods such as nuggets and burgers. Innovative companies such as Eat Just, Inc have a growing number of patent applications to cultured meat technologies, such as for producing cultured chicken [US20200392461A1]. In addition to human foods, environmentally friendly pet foods such as those from London-based company, Meatly, are on the rise. Other innovations, such as described in a patent application by Aleph foods [WO2020100143A1], are directed towards improving the sensory properties of cultured meat.

There are lots of exciting developments underway and AI models are helping to accelerate innovation and aid the discovery of new alternative proteins. These models could help food scientists to develop new protein-rich, meat-free products that are cost-efficient and have the right sensory attributes. 

For innovators of cultured meats in particular, there is a significant commercial opportunity for those that are first to mass produce a highly marketable, cost-efficient and appetising product. It’s crucial to secure patent protection for innovations at an early stage to safeguard the investment in their research and to also minimise issues when they later look to collaborate (under the right formal agreement) with a large-scale food processor. 

Abbie Fisher, associate, and Simon Bradbury, partner, are food and drink sector specialists and patent attorneys at European intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers.