GlobalData : Eat Just’s lab-grown meat regulatory approval important milestone in tackling consumers’ environmental footprint, says GlobalData

02 Dec 2020
Eat Just's lab-grown meat regulatory approval important milestone in tackling consumers' environmental footprint, says GlobalData Posted in Consumer

Following today's news (Wednesday 2 December) that Singapore's food regulators have approved the sale of EatJust's lab-grownmeat;

Ryan Whittaker, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

'While there are a number of active cell-culturing companies developing meatand fish, US-based EatJust's approvalinSingapore shows that this technology is getting that much closer to scale. Scale will ultimately lower prices and help to reduce global warming and improve animal welfare - two issues that have been prioritized for consumersamid COVID-19, according to research by GlobalData.

'According to GlobalData's most recent consumer survey (published 10 November), 48%* of global consumersreported that the reduction of their environmentalfootprintis now more importantto them than before the pandemic. This jumps to 53%* for the Asia-Pacific region. This importance is most strident among millennials, but the responses suggest significant increases inenvironmentalconcerns across all consumer age groups.

'New product development inAsia that focuses on delivering alternative meatsources to these consumerswhile reducing environmentalimpact will have a receptive, appreciative audience.

'According to GlobalData, approximately one quarter*² of Asia-Pacific consumersare buying less meatthan before the pandemic. This is an extremely importantmilestone, as the ethical and environmentalissues around meat, animal welfare and climate are becoming more prevalent. Emissions for meatwithout slaughter and animal rearing is much lower and uses far less water and land. However, the big question is whether consumerswill go for it. Given the recent explosion invegan meatalternatives, if it tastes right, they will, and that's good because the planet needs us to.'

* Covid-19 recovery tracker consumer survey, published 10 November; combining answers 'it is now my top priority', 'significantly more importantthan before' and 'slightly more importantthan before'

*2 Covid-19 recovery tracker consumer survey, published 10 November, 5,820 total respondents; combining answers 'I am buying significantly lower quantities than before' 'I am buying slightly lower quantities than before' 'I have stopped buying this'