Setting the table for meat consumers: an international Delphi study on in vitro meat

Victor Tiberius; Jenny Borning; Sabrina Seeler

doi:10.1038/s41538-019-0041-0

Setting the table for meat consumers: an international Delphi study on in vitro meat

NPJ Sci Food. 2019 Jun 4:3:10. doi: 10.1038/s41538-019-0041-0. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Victor Tiberius¹, Jenny Borning¹, Sabrina Seeler²

Affiliations

¹ 1University of Potsdam, August-Bebel-Straße 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany.
² 2Auckland University of Technology, 55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland City, New Zealand.

Abstract

The growing global demand for meat is being thwarted by shrinking agricultural areas, and opposes efforts to mitigate methane emissions and to improve public health. Cultured meat could contribute to solve these problems, but will such meat be marketable, competitive, and accepted? Using the Delphi method, this study explored the potential development of cultured meat by 2027. Despite the acknowledged urgency to develop sustainable meat alternatives, participants doubt that challenges regarding mass production, production costs, and consumer acceptance will be overcome by 2027. Considering the noticeable impacts of global warming, further research and development as well as a change in consumer perceptions is inevitable.

Keywords: Economics; Protein delivery; Sustainability.