Alternative Proteins

Alternative Proteins

This collection of articles and multimedia draws together McKinsey’s thinking on alternative proteins, from plant-based to fermentation-based to cultivated proteins. Here’s what could lie ahead along the value chain as the market develops and consumers get a taste for sustainable alternatives within food systems.

Cultivated meat

Article

Cultivated meat: Out of the lab, into the frying pan

– Making cultivated meat a $25 billion global industry by 2030 presents opportunities within and beyond today’s food industry.

Interviews 

Podcast

Growing meat instead of raising animals for food: A conversation with Eat Just’s Josh Tetrick
– The cofounder of a food-technology company wants nothing less than to change the way we produce and consume meat.
Interview - Learn to Leap: Green Business Building Edition

Make room for alternative proteins: What it takes to build a new sector
– Alternative proteins have the potential to dramatically slow climate change. This interview with three leaders in the field reveals the strategies and insights needed to unlock that potential.
Video

Exploring cultivated meat
– Only recently it was a futuristic dream—but today, cultivated meat is a product consumers are just beginning to taste. The next step is scaling a global industry.
Interview

Rethinking meat: A leader in the cultivated meat industry envisions the future
– Meat made without animals could become as normal as electric cars and music streaming, says Josh Tetrick, cofounder and CEO of cultivated-meat company Eat Just, Inc.
Interview

High-stakes innovation: An interview with a cultivated-meat pioneer
– Cultivated meat is meat—but is created by a process so different from conventional meat, it has revolutionary potential, says Didier Toubia, cofounder and CEO of cultivated-meat start-up Aleph Farms.

Other Insights

Article

How agtech start-ups can survive a capital drought
– Although agtech investment has fallen from last year’s peak, the surge in capital for start-ups over the past decade has created opportunities for smaller companies.
Article

Hungry and confused: The winding road to conscious eating
– Half of consumers call healthy eating a top priority; one-third say sustainable eating is too. But to satisfy consumers’ commitment to eating more healthily, food producers and retailers need to get innovative.
Article

Green Growth: Capturing Asia’s $5 trillion green business opportunity
– Asia is a critical contributor to the global race to net zero. Proactive moves in pursuit of this goal could result in opportunities that will define tomorrow’s outcomes and successful business leaders.
Article

Alternative proteins: The race for market share is on
– Consumer interest in non-meat-based protein options is increasing globally. Food industry players that want to capture the opportunity must understand the evolving market dynamics and where to place their bets.

Featured Experts

Jordan Bar Am
Partner, New Jersey
Works with companies across the entire food value chain to develop growth strategies that generate value from sustainability and...
Tom Brennan
Partner, Philadelphia
Helps established companies grow through innovation and business building, and start-ups scale across the chemical, food, and...
Sheng Hong
Senior Partner, Shanghai
Evaluates market opportunities and strategy to advise executives in the agriculture and chemical sectors as they seek to enter...
Joshua Katz
Partner, Stamford
Advises companies across the food-and-agriculture value chain on strategy and M&A and works closely with investors and investor-owned...
Tomas Laboutka
Associate Partner, Singapore
Helps companies build new digital businesses
Chirag Pandya
Partner, Bay Area
Global leader in consumer and operations work focused primarily on growth, product innovation, and transformations in the food...
Kate Toews
Associate Partner, Chicago
Brings hands-on executive experience to support clients innovate and scale in the food industry
Roberto Uchoa
Senior Partner, Chicago
Roberto leads cross-practice efforts between our Agriculture and Sustainability practices, as well as our consumer operations...