Cultivated Meat is Joining the Restaurant Market
When it comes to meat alternatives, you might think about plant- or fungi-based burgers. These have flooded the market with the rise of vegan and vegetarian diners. Now there’s a new up-and-comer to rival the real thing: Cultivated meat. It’s grown from cells and is thus completely cruelty-free.
In comparison, we slaughter approximately 130M chickens every day. No matter how well you replicate it, hardcore meat-eaters just don’t want to substitute vegetables. But what if there was a way to get that without animals?
Ups and Downs of Cultivated Meat
Despite the potential, this is an expensive venture to embark on before there’s a significant audience. Many consumers don’t even know this technology exists, and cultivation is complex and time-consuming, too.
Regardless, one startup believes in the endeavor. Upside Foods, a tech company based in Berkeley, CA, is partnering with San Francisco-based restaurant Atelier Crenn. There, they plan to serve up cultivated chicken. This means something big for the restaurant, whose chef, Dominique Crenn, hasn’t served meat since 2019. This microcosmic shift really demonstrates the overall potential of the cultivated meat market.
As the FDA and USDA review the product, there’s time to drum up interest and address customer concerns. Although they seem, overall, warm to the concept, it’s important to have some advantage over real meat. Why should customers switch?
What Restaurants Stand to Gain
Commercial success is key for a profitable venture. As it stands, cultivated meat uses up a lot of energy. The bigger production scales, waste and usage will lessen compared to slaughtering animals. That matters to an increasingly eco-conscious customer base. Ultimately that will also make production cheaper, which is critical for budget-conscious restaurants when handling their supply chain.
Even with these upsides, people will have reservations. Marketing around that matters. The commercial spread of cultivated meat starts in restaurants, but has to grow beyond that. Similar to Beyond Meat, which you might be familiar with, cultivated meat needs to become more commonly craved to reach its full potential.
Is Cultivated Meat Coming to Your Restaurant?
Much like plant-based alternatives, cultivated meat can spread across restaurants quickly if the demand keeps growing. If you decide to incorporate it too, you can track sales over time to see the ROI. Smart Point of Sale systems break down sales data, compare between locations, analyze your demographic breakdown and much more.
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