Government Grants Supporting Plant Based Alternate Protein Development Globally In The Last 5 Years

Alternatives. Do we even need them? In most cases, yes. Because no resource we have is present in abundance, and sometimes because they cause harm. Like the fossil fuels with which we generate electricity, and in an unintended way also cause catastrophic changes to the Earth's climate. A lot has been said about the alternative energy sources like solar and the government across regions have established the need for alternative energy sources as a fact. Solar is now the preferred source of energy for all the countries. The 629 GW of solar power installed throughout the world validates the preference towards alternative energy (International Energy Agency [IEA] estimates).

One such fundamental area which requires alternatives is the “Food”. Livestock farming creates a huge carbon footprint, contributing to the ever-increasing global warming. Countries such as the US, Japan among others have already seen the value of “alternative proteins”, i.e., the nutrition realised through plant crops, and are already investing. 

In this series we present how governments across regions have contributed to the alternative protein space.

Plant-Based Alternative Protein

The western notion of traditional protein has been animal products or their derivatives, however like most innovations the technology to obtain proteins has grown at a rocket speed in the last few years. Growing food crops for livestock is highly inefficient. By 2050, the world food system will need to feed a population of 10 billion people which needs to be more efficient. Global livestock contributes to about 18% of the global warming effect.

Livestock farming creates a huge carbon footprint, contributing to the ever-increasing global warming. Countries such as the US, Japan among others have already seen the value of “alternative proteins”, i.e., the nutrition realized through plant crops, and are already investing in companies that embraced the concept. These companies are making analogues of meat, eggs, and dairy from different sources like plants, or crop ingredients.

Plant-based alternatives to animal protein are increasingly becoming popular with the changing consumer awareness and acceptance of veganism. Here are some of the Government Grants globally that have started to support innovation and development in the alt protein space:

1. Canada’s Commitment to Agricultural Innovation 

Back in 2018, the Government of Canada initiated the “Innovation Superclusters Initiative”, as a commitment to growing the economy. One among the 5 superclusters initiated, the “Protein Industries Supercluster”, was focused to place Canada in the forefront of commercializing new plant-based ingredient products for the food ingredient, livestock feed and aquaculture markets. 

Contributing to about 7% of Canada’s GDP as per the government estimates, the agricultural sector in canada includes crops, such as canola, wheat and pulses that are in great demand across high-growth plant-based markets, such as China, India, and growing markets in North America and Europe for plant-based meat alternatives and new food products.

In addition to building Canada's reputation as a leading source for plant proteins, the government also committed a $100 million investment in the plant-based meat sector, according to the government press release.

This million-dollar commitment is in addition to the previously announced $9.2 million from the Protein Industries Supercluster back in 2018. The $100 million grant was announced by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June 2020 and was awarded to Merit Functional Foods. Merit is developing animal protein alternatives using home-grown canola plants and yellow peas. The company plans to set up its new 94,000-square-foot production plant at Winnipeg, the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, and start functioning by the end of the year.

2. German Government Invested in Plant-Based Meat or Vegan Meat 

After banning meat from official government functions in 2017, the German government invested in a three-year research grant. The German government believes to set an example to reduce consumption as an effort towards combating climate change, according to The Telegraph. 

According to the data published by Mercyforanimals.org $7800,000 grant was awarded to the researchers at TU Berlin and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany and is focused towards the production methods for plant-based meat. The research project which was titled “Texturing Mechanisms in the Wet Extrusion of Soy and Pea Protein” was envisioned to achieve the texture and mouthfeel even more meat-like.

According to the Federation of the German Meat Industry (BVDF) the meat consumption in the country has fallen drastically over the years and an average German consumed less than 60 kilograms of meat in 2019. What is interesting to note is that 49% percent of the population have tried meat alternative products, as per the Ministry for Agriculture’s Nutrition Report 2020. For such a vegetarian market, the plant-based meat alternatives is likely to be a significant opportunity.

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Read: Should Governments Support the Upcoming Alternate Protein Sector To End World Hunger?