The fake meat industry, while declining in the West, is picking up steam in China. In 2021, engineered plant-based proteins were booming: Even Burger King had it on the menu. Since then US investment has fallen 80% from its $5.6 billion peak, as Americans prioritize the real thing and the government promotes a “carnivore diet.” In China, though, where the average consumer eats half as much as the average American, things are moving in the opposite direction. Beijing’s agriculture ministry is promoting fake meat in its “future foods” initiative, and investments are up. Chinese shoppers are less concerned about animal rights or the environment than Western ones, Heatmap noted, but they are more optimistic about new technologies.
OSC15 on
Can’t wait to see the inevitable conspiracies about how this means that plant-based food is a Chinese plot somehow. 🙄
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The fake meat industry, while declining in the West, is picking up steam in China. In 2021, engineered plant-based proteins were booming: Even Burger King had it on the menu. Since then US investment has fallen 80% from its $5.6 billion peak, as Americans prioritize the real thing and the government promotes a “carnivore diet.” In China, though, where the average consumer eats half as much as the average American, things are moving in the opposite direction. Beijing’s agriculture ministry is promoting fake meat in its “future foods” initiative, and investments are up. Chinese shoppers are less concerned about animal rights or the environment than Western ones, Heatmap noted, but they are more optimistic about new technologies.
Can’t wait to see the inevitable conspiracies about how this means that plant-based food is a Chinese plot somehow. 🙄
How is a RFK’s carnivore diet even possible