Artificial meat may be next hot-seller as thinktank pushes government to promote consumption

Artificial meat may see an uptick in sales in the coming times in the UK as recent reports stated that the UK government is being told to encourage the consumption of “alternative proteins” by backing development and sale of such products.

As per a report released by Social Market Foundation today (6), the UK government should support the development of alternative meat products as part of fulfilling its Net Zero ambitions as raising cows, sheep and chickens contributes significantly to carbon emissions- almost 14.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The report points out a wide array of benefits to supporting alternative proteins, including opening up a green export opportunity for British businesses, reducing the risk of zoonotic diseases and improving animal welfare. 

It has been claimed earlier by experts that the amount of meat people eat in the UK needs to be brought down by more than a third by 2025. Meat consumption has indeed reduced in recent years though it needs to be brought down further, the report said.

There also calls for imposing climate tax on food with a heavy environmental impact by 2025.

Linus Pardoe, an SMF research associate and the paper’s author, said that a better solution will be to help consumers transition to more sustainable dietary habits by expanding the range of alternative protein products on the market.

“We can only expect consumers to switch from eating meat if product offerings are high-quality, affordable and easily accessible,” Pardoe said adding that the global race for alternative proteins is on and “the UK should be leading the charge”.

Currently, Beyond Meat, Gardein- known for its golden fishless fillet and meatless meatballs, VBites, Vivera, The Vegetarian Butcher, Tofurky- know for perfectly vegan sausages and Fry Family Food are some of the leading suppliers of meat alternative brands in the UK market. 

Vegan living is the fastest-growing lifestyle movement in the UK. As per Peta UK, there are four times more vegans now than there were four years ago.