This was the important thing message delivered by The Good Meals Institute’s (GFI) lead scientist for cultivated meat and seafood Clair Bomkamp, presenting on the GOED Trade in Athens, Greece on Tuesday (Jan 23).
“There are some converging tendencies in seafood that make us suppose we have to look extra intently at how we’re producing this meals,” she asserted. “Fewer than 7% of fisheries are at the moment being fished at ranges beneath the sustainable limits.
“This doesn’t imply 93% are over fished, however the 7% is the place there’s room for development, and we want development. A World Financial institution report estimated a 27% improve in fish consumption between 2010 and 2030, and it appears we’re just about on monitor for that up to now, but how we’re going to satisfy that demand will not be clear.”
The non-profit group GFI has been growing a roadmap for a sustainable, safe and simply protein provide by wanting into different proteins which they imagine shall be a part of the answer.
“However this isn’t nearly altruistic considerations about meals safety or sustainability,” Bomkamp stated. “It’s one thing firms are recognising as an enormous alternative for future development.”
She famous that the plant-based seafood market has seen regular year-on-year development since 2019. Nonetheless, whereas plant-based meat makes up 3% of the overall packaged meat market, seafood options are below 1% of that market.
“If seafood options have been to make up the identical proportion of their market that will be a possible $196 million trade,” she advised the room.
Assembly and exceeding omega-3 profiles
It’s necessary to develop meals which can be of equal dietary worth to what they’re changing, and shoppers know that omega-3s are an necessary side of seafood’s dietary worth, Bomkamp stated.
This was nicely demonstrated in GFI’s shopper analysis on different seafoods in 2022 during which 34% to 36% of members stated omega-3 ranges would affect their resolution of whether or not to buy a seafood different.
Discussing choices for sustainable fortification of those meals, she stated scaling up micro-algae farming is “most likely the obvious”, however plant molecular farming, precision fermentation and cell-free programs are different potential sources.
What the trade desires
GFI carried out a survey of different meat and seafood firms (Sept. to Dec. 2023, almost 75% seafood firms) to find out how large of a precedence omega-3 content material is, what sort of components firms are involved in and the place they see themselves in 5 years.
Requested in regards to the content material of their present merchandise, the information revealed EPA and DHA will not be a present consideration for almost all, however some did make clear that it was one thing they have been fascinated about for future merchandise, and lots of stated that they had product prototypes during which they have been aiming for equal content material.
When requested about key challenges in sourcing omega-3s, essentially the most cited problem was value, adopted by bother discovering suppliers, shelf life and off flavours.
Relating to their five-year outlook, the bulk stated they have been anticipating their merchandise to have equal ranges of omega-3 (to seafood supply) inside that timeframe.
Almost all stated that they’re at the moment algae to fortify their merchandise, however many have been involved in diversifying, with explicit curiosity in precision fermentation and recombinant encapsulation.
“So in the event you’re an omega-3 provider who wish to work with the choice protein trade, I believe the very first thing is to have a look at a the record of challenges firms are citing and see in the event you can handle a few of these, corresponding to by making the most of economies of scale, making your self simple to search out, bettering shelf-life, decreasing off flavours and decreasing lead instances,” Bomkamp saidI would additionally suggest establishing relationships early in order firms scale up you possibly can develop with them.”
She added that different omega-3 suppliers can add their itemizing to the GFI firm database on-line.
