Meanwhile, Cargill has been busy expanding its plant-based/alternative-protein food business by aligning itself with a growing number of food-tech startups to augment the company's in-house R&D. "There are still innovation hurdles to overcome," Schattenmann said. "There are certain areas where we have core expertise and should innovate ourselves.
In April 2022, Cargill joined in the largest funding round in the cultivated-meat industry to date, contributing to a $400-million investment in Berkeley, California-based Upside Foods. Last fall, Upside's lab-grown chicken was declared safe for human consumption by the Food and Drug Administration, the first such designation in the U.S.
Despite Cargill's vast financial wherewithal to invest in food technology that improves plant-based meats, it will take time to bring those products to market and then convince enough consumers who were turned off by the first wave of products to come back to the new-and-improved ones.