This insights piece was updated on June 24, 2024 to reflect the opening of the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College
The future of food needs to have a solution to the problem of protein – specifically, animal protein.
As part of our “yes, and” approach to food systems, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to feeding 10 billion people. Yes, we need to invest in livestock, and strive to reduce methane emissions and bring about more sustainable production practices. And, if we’re to stay within the Paris climate goals as the world’s population grows, some of the sharply increasing demand for meat needs to come from alternative proteins with a fraction of the emissions and a vastly reduced land footprint.
The alternative protein sector emerged over the past decade just as we needed it. This period was marked by a slew of new innovations – like breakthroughs in lab-grown meat produced using stem cells, and plant-based meat substitutes that mimic the look and taste of the real thing.
While the sector has grown significantly over the past five years, more is needed if we are to meet our climate goals. We need to vastly accelerate the quest to produce alternative protein products which are healthy, tasty and affordable for consumers the world over. Whilst majority private investment to date has got us a good way forward, we believe that it needs a firm footing of cutting-edge public research and development which underpins improvement in products, and we call on governments likewise to act and support this fledgling industry
The idea is to create Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein, housed in universities at the cutting edge of science and technology related to sustainable protein, which systematically go about creating breakthrough research which will drive alternative protein products to be cheaper, tastier and better for you. They should be responding to industry needs, solving emerging problems, and investing in game changing new ideas which have transformational potential to bring about step changes for the sector. And the best bit is that should all be open-access - the knowledge generated can be used by anyone to ensure broad impact.
To help make this happen, we teamed up with the Good Food Institute - a nonprofit think tank - to undertake a global search for research institutions that could rise to the challenge. As a result of this search, and building off our announcement of US$60m for sustainable protein, we created the first Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein at North Carolina State University, and are now thrilled to create our second Center at Imperial College London.
Imperial’s Center, spanning across seven academic departments, will develop innovative and evidence-based solutions through the design, delivery, and commercialization of alternative food products that are economically and environmentally friendly, nutritious, affordable, and tasty.
With $30 million in funding over the next five years, Imperial will advance research into precise fermentation, cultivated meat, bioprocessing and automation, nutrition, and AI and machine learning. The focus will be on bioengineering — using principles from biology, engineering, computer science, and other disciplines — to redesign biological systems.
The ultimate aim, shared with the third Center to be announced soon, is to find ways to bring down the price of sustainable proteins, improve their taste and nutritional value, and ensure their relevance to as wide a range of consumers as possible.
The Bezos Earth Fund’s Future of Food Program is working to transform food and agricultural systems to feed a growing population without degrading the planet. With this kind of firm R+D foundation in place, I believe sustainable protein will be set to properly play their part in the future of food.
It might even come to define that future.