Photo via Fast Company
Demand for meat substitutes has been growing steadily in the U.S. as more consumers become aware of the environmental and animal welfare impacts of farmed meat, and the recent report from the World Health Organization labeling processed meat as carcinogenic will likely drive that trend faster. Although there are still very few true vegetarians in the United States – only 2 to 5% of adults in the states currently eat no meat, and many of those will return to their carnivorous lifestyle at some point in the future – many more people are now making attempts to eat more meatless meals.
But although the demand for plant proteins is there, the supply still has a long way to go. Because of processing costs, meat substitutes still run about as much per pound as organic meat, and taste and texture turn off many would-be herbivores. In the Netherlands, where a small landmass and substantial environmental awareness makes the push toward vegetarianism even stronger, companies are using engineering to solve this problem. Most notably is Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch company which has developed “the world’s first vegan steak.” The machine responsible for this steak is called the Couette shear cell device, and it uses rotating cylinders and temperature variation to spin liquid soy protein into a slab with the texture of steak. Besides better mimicking the taste and mouthfeel of a good tenderloin, this process is much cheaper than current vegan meat production.
Although it’s still impossible to get this faux steak in the States, Vegetarian Butcher is currently expanding and hope to be available here soon. Although they’ll have some competition from companies cropping up here, they hope to work more in partnership than opposition. As costs come down and demand goes up, there may just be enough room in the market to me that happen.
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Controversy over $10 remelted chocolate bars aside, the real price of chocolate increased by leaps and bounds in 2015, due in part to El Niño-related droughts, ebola outbreaks in exporting countries, and other supply chain issues. Some chocolate companies weathered the increase by upping prices or using less chocolate in their products, but industry leaders think this is only a stop-gap measure. With ever-growing demand for chocolate in China and India, there’s simply no price increase now that could prevent a shortage in the near future. As the chief sustainability officer at Mars explains, there are “still one to two billion consumers around the world that don’t eat chocolate today, and we think they will.”
Papa John’s, whose motto of “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza” you likely know even if you’ve never touched a slice, is making moves to uphold that promise by removing a host of artificial ingredients from its pizzas. “We closed out 2015 announcing our commitment to serve chicken raised without antibiotics and are ringing in the New Year artificial-flavor and synthetic-color free,” said Sean Muldoon, Papa John’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development. This might lead one to wonder what made the ingredients “better” before the change, but to its credit Papa John’s is the first national pizza chain to make a move like this.
paigepapers.com 