Technology
Startups producing alternative meats are gaining popularity worldwide.
Startups manufacturing lab-grown meat and meat substitutes are gaining momentum and raising cash in global markets, representing a wave in food tech support firms in the United States.
Recent alliances with major chains such as McDonald's in Hong Kong, the opening of test kitchens in Israel and new investment rounds for start-ups in Sydney and Singapore lead to an explosion of prospects for alternative meat on foreign markets.
In Hong Kong, a $70 million round of investment, the Green Monday Holdings OmniFoods business unit has been selected by McDonald's to provide the spam replacement at locations around the region.
The limited-time menu offerings offering OmniFoods pork substitutes demonstrate that the fast food franchise is able to give vegetarian and vegan lunch choices to customers — as long as they live outside the U.S. McDonald's has yet to make any real initiatives in its home country to introduce lab-grown beef or meat substitutes to customers.
As far as lab-grown meat is concerned, customers in Tel Aviv will now be able to try chicken made from a lab at the new pop-up restaurant The Chicken, installed in the former test kitchen of the lab-grown meat manufacturer SuperMeat.
The luxury restaurant does not cost anything: it is free for consumers who wish to test the company's blended chicken patties made from chicken meat grown from cells in a lab that are blended with soya, pea protein or whey, according to the company.
