Good News For Chickens: Investors Hunt For Fake Meat

As consumers, mindful of animal welfare and environmental issues, demand more and better meat alternatives, big business is taking notice. Triggered by disturbing conditions at factory farms and growing concern for environmental issues that accompany rearing livestock, investors like Biz Stone and Evan Williams of Twitter, Bill Gates and Hong Kong magnate Li Ka-shing have all gotten behind the business of fake meat, reports the New York Times.

For many of them, fake meat offers a lucrative business opportunity more than anything else. Sales of meat alternatives grew 8 percent from 2010 to 2012, when sales hit $553 million -- and are expected to grow more.

"Much of the new growth in the segment is coming from younger consumers who seek foods that fit an overall lifestyle, be it for health reasons or personal ethics," Andrew Loucks, president of the United States frozen foods business at the Kellogg Company, which owns MorningStar, told NYT. "They are not just seeking foods that mimic meat. Instead they specifically want vegetarian foods with distinctive flavors and visible, recognizable ingredients."

The industry is only responding to demand -- fake meat has come incredibly close to the real thing of late -- so much so that consumers may not be able to tell the difference. A bizarre mix-up revealed just this, reports NYT:

Last May, Whole Foods recalled two types of curried chicken salad that had been sold in some of its stores in the Northeast. The retailer's kitchens had accidentally confused a batch of "chick'n" salad made with a plant protein substitute with one made from real chicken, and reversed the labels. Consumers buying the version labeled as having been made from actual chicken were instead eating vegetarian chicken salad - and thus inadvertently were exposed to soy and eggs, allergens that must be identified on labels under federal regulations.

The substitute was so convincing, said Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive of Beyond Meat, that they didn't received complaints.

"None of the customers apparently noticed the difference."