The University of California-Davis has launched a new facility working toward the large-scale commercialization and technological advancement of alternative proteins, including cultivated meat grown in laboratories and plant- and fungal-based foods.

The Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein – iCAMP for short – also will investigate hybrid products combining conventional meat with alternative proteins.

“I think this would be the first center that’s comprehensively looking at all kinds of alternative meats. I’m sure there will be others soon,” said David Block, center director.

Demand increase

Global demand for meat is expected to increase with population and as developing countries become more affluent, said Daniel Sumner, a UC-Davis ag economics professor who is part of iCAMP.

“Mostly, we don’t eat more as we get richer. We eat the things we like more. Almost every culture, that means more meat,” Sumner added.

He said the pattern is so strong economists consider it a given and added that a 25% increase in the demand for meat in 25 years seemed reasonable.

Block said with those factors, expansion of conventional animal agriculture is unlikely to meet demand at a reasonable price.

“We have to come up with alternatives and create additional sustainable food sources,” Block said.

Other researchers at UC-Davis are focused on making conventional meat more efficient and sustainable. “We have to pursue all of the different routes to creating more meat,” Block added.

Funding sources

The center will include about 40 researchers from UC-Davis and partner institutions.

In 2022, the California Legislature provided $5 million for research into alternative proteins at three universities. UC Davis’ $1.67 million share will be used to start iCAMP.

“Getting that many researchers actively engaged will cost a lot more,” Block said.

The center will apply for federal grants and philanthropic gifts and ask companies to support research.

Block also leads the UC-Davis Cultivated Meat Consortium, which received $3.5 million from the National Science Foundation in 2020, and now is part of iCAMP.

Research details

Researchers will study ways to enhance consumer acceptance and preference for alternative proteins. This could lead to a focus on taste, nutrition, shelf life and stability, cooking properties, cost or other factors.

“There’s going to have to be some advantage to consumers to purchase it,” Block said.

Alternative meats continue to face challenges, however.

Plant-based proteins can have displeasing flavors that have to be covered up, or problems with mouthfeel.

To reach price parity with conventional meat, cultivated meat production would need to be scaled up to volumes never attempted.

“We are not to the point where the product is anywhere near the cost of conventional meat. Widespread distribution of affordable products is likely to take 10 to 15 years,” Block said.

Raw materials

Sumner cautioned that experts don’t know when or if that future will occur.

Raw materials such as amino acids and micronutrients aren’t available in a cost effective manner to grow alternative meats on a factory scale. Sumner likened it to electric vehicles, where there’s a limited supply of rare minerals.

“As of now and for the foreseeable future, the issue is price and affordability,” Sumner said.

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