Bezos Earth Fund Pours Grant Money into Alternative Protein

Will it Level the Playing Field?

In their own words, the Bezos Earth Fund is a team of grant recipients from a wide variety of sectors all over the world who share a common goal of addressing crucial climate and nature issues with a diverse range of solutions. Of the $10 Billion Jeff Bezos has committed to investing, $2 billion in the form of 230 grants focused on seven specific areas of study has already been doled out. Most recently, grants totaling $157 million dollars were allotted for food security projects, biodiversity loss and the heavily debated, alternative protein options.

North Carolina State and Imperial College London both received $30 million and a third recipient, in Southeast Asia, will be announced soon. All three are directly involved in scientific and market development of alternative protein sources. We know that North Carolina State is also working with additional investors as they gear up to continue researching and commercially producing plant protein products, fermented meat and cultivated animal cell protein options. 

The alternative protein industry hasn’t scaled as quickly as it hoped, nor has it built the robust market it set out to create.  While plant protein options can be found in most grocery stores, they haven’t revolutionized the protein industry. Repeat purchasing is low.  And, when it comes to cultivated protein options very few people seem to be seeking it out. The vegan community isn’t looking to add animal protein back into their routine and omnivores are inclined to keep eating meat raised on pastures. The question is, will the influx of funding strengthen its legs?

What Will Additional Funding Build for the Industry?

While farmers and ranchers have access to subsidies and grants through government agencies, the alternative protein sector has long been left out of the running.  All totaled, the Bezos Earth Fund estimates $16 billion in funding has been provided for the alternative protein sector, largely through private entities, while $200 billion a year goes towards animal agriculture subsidies. If we’re comparing, the funding hasn’t been there for fermented or cultivated meat to become a competitive option and that’s something the Earth Fund aims to change.

Will millions make a difference? The panel of individuals scrutinizing proposals believes that if it’s allocated wisely, huge strides can be made in the industry. Perhaps the fund is more about collaboration and less about dollars. Recipients have so far been selected because they are positioned to address very specific industry obstacles.

Rather than letting similar companies compete against each other, the funding aims to make alternative protein itself competitive. Currently, multiple facilities are conducting the exact same research. Part of the collaboration building under Jeff Bezos’s $10 billion dollar commitment is to do away with money wasted on duplicate research. 

We know now that obstacles revolve around taste, texture, affordability, environmental sustainability and consumer perceptions. The universities selected to receive grants are tackling these obstacles and their work will support the start up companies who are the boots on the ground branding and building markets.  It wouldn’t be too surprising to see this evolve into one of the biggest vertical integration models we’ve ever seen. The entirety of the $1 billion intended for sustainable and alternative protein options hasn’t been fully doled out yet, and we can only wonder at who will be selected next. Will it be a startup capable of drawing in consumers or another university perfectly positioned to address a major obstacle?

Policy and Perception Will Play a Part in the Success of Alternative Protein

Alabama and Florida have already banned the production and sale of cultivated meat in their states and there is speculation that others will follow suit.  Both state economies depend on animal agriculture and as the mouthpiece of their constituents, the actions of government officials reflect a desire to protect current farming practices and the livelihoods they represent. 

While finding a cultivated ribeye for sale next to a live cow ribeye in a grocery store at similar price points is still years away, there’s a general fear that cultivated meat and pea protein will overtake the beef and poultry industries and with it the culture of the country. However, the Bezos Earth Fund seems primarily concerned with leveling the playing field and giving legs to ideas that have the potential to create more options.  If we could unlock another way of feeding an increasing population with nutritious food do we owe it to food insecure people groups to try?

A strong alternative protein market would downsize the current meat industries. But, if the global population grows to 10 billion, that’s a lot of people making food choices. Even if some stand resolutely against alternative protein sources from soy isolate to lab grown meat, and others refuse to eat anything but, the protein market is a large one that should be capable of accommodating both types of consumer demands.

Precision fermentation, biomass fermentation, and pea protein, all rely on existing farmers. Even lab grown meat has to feed off of something. If there is a common ground to be found between opposing sides it might literally be on the ground we want to keep farming 50 years from now. The Bezos Earth Fund also has a goal to change perception from alternative protein being anti- farming to simply repurposing existing resources. If perceptions change then policy will follow suit. The question is, how many people’s perspectives does the alternative protein industry need to shift in order to carve out a stable position?