Another billionaire goes all-in on fake meat

Billionaire Jeff Bezos gave the fake meat industry a major boost Friday with the launch of the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein.

$100 million for fake meat

The launch was announced by the Amazon founder’s climate trust, the Bezos Earth Fund, which has given the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein $30 million. The center, which will be operated by North Carolina State University, aims to “create a biomanufacturing hub for dietary proteins that are environmentally friendly, healthy, tasty, and affordable.”

The $30 million grant is part of an overall $100 million commitment by the Bezos Earth Fund to build a network of research and development centers aimed at creating more fake meat to fight climate change.

“Food production is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s critical we find ways to feed a growing population without degrading the planet,” said Bezos Earth Fund President and CEO Andrew Steer in a press release announcing the launch. “Sustainable protein has tremendous potential but more research is needed to reduce the price and boost the flavor and texture to ensure nutritious, affordable products are available. It's about choice.”

The Bezos Earth Fund says it is spending $10 billion over this decade to “fight against climate change.”

Is Bezos saving the fake meat market?

Bezos, who recently reclaimed the title of world’s richest man, may be on track to save an industry that continues to plummet despite major efforts by billionaire Bill Gates.

The fake meat industry’s nosedive includes its flagship enterprise, Beyond Meat, which continues to hemorrhage cash.

Beyond Meat, founded in 2009 to “fight climate change,” counts Gates as one of its investors. On the day it went public in 2019, its stock jumped 163%, which analysts said was the best one-day performance for a major American company in two decades. It has since supplied its plant-based fake meat to McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Bell, Walmart and PepsiCo. In 2013, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) named Beyond Meat “Company of the Year” and the company has been endorsed by several Hollywood celebrities.

But the corporate sensation is suffering a public fall from grace amid fading demand for fake meat. Last month, Beyond Meat reported an 18% drop in revenue in the first quarter compared to a year ago. The company repeatedly cited “demand softness” and “weakening demand” as reasons for the drop.

Last year, Beyond Meat was forced to slash its annual sales forecast from $375 million–$415 million to $360 million–$380 million. In 2022, the company cut a fifth of its workforce when its stock dropped nearly 80%.

Major restaurant chains like Dunkin’ Donuts, Del Taco, and Carl’s Jr are now scaling back purchases of Beyond Meat products or ending their relationships with the fake meat company entirely.

A dying industry: ‘We slightly believed what the press were telling us about everyone stopping eating meat’

But the industry’s woes go beyond Beyond Meat. At Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat's top competitor, shares the company distributes to employees plummeted 89% as of last June. US fake meat company Tattooed Chef last year announced it would be filing for bankruptcy. British company Meatless Farm, which had partnered with Whole Foods, narrowly avoided shutting its doors when it was acquired by VFC Foods in August. In May 2023, sausage maker Heck decided to scale back its vegan ambitions after suffering losses.

“I suppose we slightly believed what the press were telling us about everyone stopping eating meat, but that hasn’t really happened,” said Heck founder Andrew Keeble.

Bill Gates: ‘Use regulation’ to increase demand for fake meat

Even billionaire Bill Gates, who has also funded other fake meat companies such as Impossible Foods and Upside Foods, has acknowledged that government regulation may be necessary to force people to eat fake meat.

“I don’t think the poorest 80 countries will be eating synthetic meat,” Gates told MIT Technology Review in 2021. “I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef. You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time. Eventually, that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the [behavior of] people or use regulation to totally shift the demand.”

While Gates and his World Economic Forum (WEF) colleagues hope to significantly reduce meat consumption by 2030 and, ideally, would like to phase it out completely by 2050, British investigative food journalist Joanna Blythman says the global real meat industry is forecasted to rise up to 7% annually.