The Lemon Fool

I read a fascinating article in the Spectator this week about the oncoming explosion in cultured meat. Chicken Nuggets made from animal cells in a ‘bioreactor’ have just been passed for human consumption and now on the menu in Singapore and taste pretty good too by all accounts. An event that the author described as the start of a "major industrial, social and cultural revolution", one that the UK needs to prepare for.

The protein transition, as it is sometimes referred to, has been talked about for a long time, but it is now a reality. It is mostly in the domain of small startups at the moment but billions of dollars of investment are pouring into the sector with backers including Richard Branson and Bill Gates.

Here’s a link to the article but it is behind a paywall. The author, Anthony Browne MP is Chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on the environment.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/anthony-browne

So, any thoughts on how to go about investing in the ‘clean meat’ revolution?

Hmmmmm Soylent Green!

How about Agronomics? (ANIC)

There was an article on citywire about the company who invests in various startup in this space.

Cheers

steve

Interestingly yesterday I tried a plant-based burger made by the firm TMF and the media in general have been making a fuss about as the future "Beyond Meat".

Although I'd say as claimed perfect copy of real meat but made from plant protein, I'd say that have the texture broadly right but the taste an smell of them have a long way to go. It was about as indistinguishable from real beef as "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" is from real butter. I.e a million miles. The stuff just reeks of artificial chemicals.

So while from the media we get the impression that plant-based 'meat' is the future, having tried it I now quite strongly disagree and I think its a blind alley. I have a sneaky suspicion cultured meat may well turn out the same but I'll reserve judgement until I get to actually try it. IF I can bring myself to.

A easy option to go greener and address global over population is of course cannibalism. Fancy a Chinese or Indian tonight?

Padders72 wrote:Hmmmmm Soylent Green!

So long as it isn't Solyent Red

Having cooked a few Beyond Burgers its a bit worrying how they bleed red!

Hi

I've been following this for a few years now and the disruption is going to be immense. The price per burger has dropped dramatically and the texture/quality is improving all the time. Already the meat companies in the US are lobbying to oppose this.

It will decimate the farming industry and could see many breeds become extinct. Many species only exist because they have been managed by farmers.

I think it will eventually morph into a two tier market where the majority of the population eat lab grown meat, and the elite will have the real thing. Expensive hobby farms growing real meat for the rich.

Anyway here is a question for you. Would you eat a lab grown burger cloned from youself? Send some cells off, a week later you can rock up to a restaurant and eat a steak made from your own tissue? How about celebrity stem cell burger (tm)

I've just invested in the Rize Sustainable Future of Food ETF [FOGB] to (hopefully) take advantage of this area.

I also had a look at the Pictet Nutrition Fund

DYOR etc.

anteos wrote:It will decimate the farming industry and could see many breeds become extinct. Many species only exist because they have been managed by farmers.

All cattle (depending on definition) only exist due to selection by farmers and breeds have been becoming extinct for many decades or near extinct but saved by 'rare breed' groups. For example, Double Gloucester cheese was originally made from the milk of Gloucester cattle which produce milk with particular properties (something to do with the fat globules IIRC) and there are only a few of those left. Likewise the Dairy Shorthorn which was the mainstay of the milk producers until the Friesian (and then the Holstein x Friesian) became ubiquitous.

anteos wrote:I think it will eventually morph into a two tier market where the majority of the population eat lab grown meat, and the elite will have the real thing. Expensive hobby farms growing real meat for the rich.

More likely IMO that meat substitutes will likely replace much of the meat consumption rather than lab-grown but maybe both. I don't really think the term 'elite' is necessarily appropriate but perhaps real meat will return to its earlier role as a food for high-days and holidays rather than something that people expect to be able to afford to eat most days of the week. There's certainly an environmental niche for meat production but not as a mass produced food as it is at present. Sheep and goats are pretty good at turning poor quality grassland into food, provided they are farmed wisely - they can also be environmentally damaging too, particularly goats. And we seem to have too many deer in the UK which might just as well be culled and eaten. I'd agree that the agricultural industry needs to change, and it is:

Alt ice-cream enters mainstream as UK sales rise with the temperature. It may use peas or coconut and not cow’s milk but experts say plant-based ice-cream now makes up 14% of the market

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/j ... emperature

RC

It wasn't long ago that it would be derided as Frankenstein food, and that's what it is to my mind. I'd rather stick to responsibly reared real meat, for now at least.

Two years on, ANIC's SP has grown from 35p to... oh dear, 9.6p.
So how are 'green crap' investors feeling today? Does it feel a bit like fusion power?

The Oak Bloke is feeling quite positive about it. He reckons we should pitch in, powered by the move into pet food.

Does the push to Net Zero help us? All those bovine emissions? Not in my opinion... the only way to make money out of this lab stuff is if it can be snuck into low-rent pies n' pasties, and onto the plates of our poor dumb pets. If this non-meat can be made to look and taste tolerably like the real thing, but cheaper.

Are we there yet?

V8

88V8 wrote:Two years on, ANIC's SP has grown from 35p to... oh dear, 9.6p.
So how are 'green crap' investors feeling today? Does it feel a bit like fusion power?

The Oak Bloke is feeling quite positive about it. He reckons we should pitch in, powered by the move into pet food.

Does the push to Net Zero help us? All those bovine emissions? Not in my opinion... the only way to make money out of this lab stuff is if it can be snuck into low-rent pies n' pasties, and onto the plates of our poor dumb pets. If this non-meat can be made to look and taste tolerably like the real thing, but cheaper.

Are we there yet?

V8

I suggest taking a trip to your local supermarket.
It may surprise you just what range of things they sell, however I'd draw your attention to just one.
Quorn
It's available in a vast range of products.
Here is how it's made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnoCFrAzweU

So, the idea of mass producing food in vats works and is big business.
Now it is true that actually producing meat in a vat, rather than an alternative, is not proving economic.
However if you watch the video to the end, you will hear arguments of vat grown food.

Most people who eat vegetarian do so for reasons of animal concern, but not all.

Consider "Diet for a small Planet" from 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_for_a_Small_Planet

Now remind me, when did governments become concerned about man made climate change or indeed adopt Net Zero policies?

Personally I didn't invest in these companies, but I do have shares in the company that owns "The Vegetarian Butcher".
https://www.unilever.com/brands/nutriti ... n-butcher/

Urbandreamer wrote:It may surprise you just what range of things they sell, however I'd draw your attention to just one.
Quorn
It's available in a vast range of products.

I read something in the last day or two that suggested Quorn's sales were a bit weak recently.
E.g. https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... eyond-meat

SteadyAim wrote:

Urbandreamer wrote:It may surprise you just what range of things they sell, however I'd draw your attention to just one.
Quorn
It's available in a vast range of products.

I read something in the last day or two that suggested Quorn's sales were a bit weak recently.
E.g. https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... eyond-meat

Indeed so. TBH I did a bit of research into Quorn when writing my post to see if it appealed to me as an investment. A number of things put me off the fact, including where it's listed.

However I was replying to 88V8's post.
I do seriously suggest visiting a local supermarket to see the range of stuff available, and yes, one of my local ones does sell Ostrich!

Ah, remember the 90's bubble in Ostrich farming.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/inve ... 04219.html

Still there is a huge difference between a couple of packs of ostrich steak and the freezers and chillers full of plant based meat substitute.

‎
I tried some horse-meat last week and it made me seriously ill.

I'm over the worst though, and am thankfully now in a stable condition...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Itsallaguess wrote:‎
I tried some horse-meat last week and it made me seriously ill.

A bad case of the trots?

Itsallaguess wrote:‎
I'm over the worst though, and am thankfully now in a stable condition...

I'm glad your mare is over...

CP