Synthetic meat won’t kill the red meat industry
12 years from now, the red meat industry will have a different shape and that is still unknown to the players in that field. During a Sustainability Forum, organized by MLA during the Red Meat event this year, panelists have discussed the theme ‘What can we do to support a thriving red meat industry to 2030 and beyond?’.
"Through a customer lense, it’s really all about consumers continuing to trust and love eating beef. Certainly, from McDonald’s perspective in 2030, we would hope the consumer can continue to feel good about eating beef, they know how it’s produced, and there’s an industry that’s very transparent and continuing to share with the consumer about how their product is produced", declared Susie Craig, Sustainable Supply and Quality Manager for McDonald’s.
"We will be very transparent. The customers and consumers they’re going to want to know the ins and outs of the product they’re buying. They like to know those animals have been treated very well throughout their life, and they’ve only really had one bad day in their lifetime", explained Mark Inglis Farm Assurance and Supply Chain Manager Livestock, JBS Swift Australia.
On the other hand, synthetic meat will challenge the sector but it will not kill the red meat industry, concluded the attendants at this event.
"I see them as another competitor. We’ve got other competitors in other proteins and other food products. The best way to combat it is to go out on the front foot and show what we do so well and that’s why we need to be sustainable. If we can go out and tell the really good story of what we do, then we’re winning", is convinced Jamie Heinrich, Director of Sheep Producers Australia.
Synthetic substitutes for meat are not going to obtain a large market share in the foreseeable future, believes Bryce Camm, Chair of the Sustainability Steering Group, Australian Beef Sustainability Framework. "No doubt, it’s going to be a competitor – but this industry does such a great job in terms of sustainable product, that has a great provenance story behind it, that we’re selling to the world at an affordable price and we can’t forget that either. This industry has almost an obligation of supplying affordable protein, and that’s not going to come through synthetics in the foreseeable future.
We need to focus on what we’re good at and allow the synthetic industry to go on their own journey, and we will flog them from pillar to post, because of all the capacity of people invested in this industry and the structures and accountability we’ve invested in behind our product. I think it’s going to be a long journey before we’re seriously competing on the shelf with synthetics”, he said.
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