Driven by consumers who desire more than tofu as an option for meatless Monday, the cultured meat industry is growing. By 2025, the global cultured meat market is expected to be worth $206.6 million. Now, companies are making cultured meat products for pets, so the entire family can reduce their footprint on the environment.
The Cost of Feeding Pets
Animal-derived products are a large portion of most pet diets in the United States. Research from UCLA found 163 million dogs and cats eat meat in the U.S., and their diet habits create an additional 64 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, which is equal to driving 13 million cars.
Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact are not the only reasons why consumers want their pets to dine on meat alternatives. Meat requires more water, energy, land and waste to produce compared to plants. In addition, there are concerns about animal welfare and abuse.
The coronavirus pandemic has also affected the meat industry in multiple ways, including problems with imports and exports. Consumers witnessed pet food shortages during the pandemic as stores struggled to keep up with demand.
Making Pet Food Better
As more families focus on vegan or vegetarian lifestyles that are sustainable, they want their pets to follow similar diets. However, although dogs can handle starchy carbohydrates, cats are obligate carnivores and require certain proteins to come from meat, or they develop health issues. This has presented problems for companies that want to make cultured meat for pets that does not come from livestock.
Two companies, Bond Pet Foods and Because Animals, are finding solutions with cell-cultured meat products for pets. Both are making animal-free products that are safe for pets to consume and plan to start selling them by 2022 and 2023.
Bond Pet Foods began its process by humanely collecting a blood sample from a hen named Inga and analyzing the genetic code of its chicken proteins. Next, the company uses biotechnology to make cultured fungal and animal proteins through fermentation. It harvests the proteins and uses them as ingredients for pet food because they contain all the amino acids cats and dogs need. Since Bond Pet Foods’ process does not harm the animal, Inga continues to live on a farm.
Because Animals follows a different process to make cultured meat. It starts with humanely harvesting animal cells and growing them in a bioreactor filled with nourishing proteins, minerals, vitamins and nutrients. The cells grow on a proprietary alternative to fetal bovine serum, which is not obtained from slaughtering pregnant cows. The cells turn into tissue, and the company harvests the meat to use it in pet food.
As demand for meat alternatives grows, companies are expanding their offerings to include more diverse products, including pet food. Cultured meat holds the promise of satisfying pets while promoting environmental sustainability and lowering greenhouse gases.