Plant-based meat is synthetic meat produced from protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals sourced from plants.
Plant-based diets and food products are well established, with meat alternatives such as tofu and tempeh dating back thousands of years.
Recently, consumer interest has increased as they are consciously moving toward plant-based meat products for social, health and environmental reasons.
Pressure from advisory bodies is also growing; a recent government-commissioned analysis recommended meat consumption be reduced by 30% within a decade. Even large, fast-food chains have recently begun to ride the meat-free wave. For example, McDonalds co-created and globally marketed the McPlant burger (a certified vegan burger) with Beyond Meat.
Companies have responded to this sudden increase in interest by investing heavily in research and development for plant-based products mimicking the taste, texture, and appearance of meat. Beyond Meat's chicken strips, launched in 2012, heralded the meat mimicking strategy and became the forefront of innovation in this technology area. The sector gained further momentum in 2016 with the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger, both successful globally. The meat-mimicking goal is still a strong driver in the plant-based food market, and we continue to see new companies emerging and establishing a foothold in the meat-mimicking space, such as Vegan Punk.
It is not all rosy in the industry, however. The public’s faith in the industry may be faltering due to, in part, some products providing lower than promised nutritional benefit. This may be combined with market saturation, especially in the US. This obstacle may be epitomised by struggles of long-term market leader, Beyond Meat, whose share price has dropped by 80% since October 2021.
It will be interesting to see the effect of this current turbulence on future patent filings. New companies such as Vegan Punk are seeking to address the nutritional concerns around previous plant-based products, and currently companies in this area continue to innovate at pace, seeking improved taste, texture, and appearance. But while the industry has made huge strides toward mimicking traditional meat, there is still a way to go toward replicating the meat-eating experience, particularly delivering nutritional promises and economic viability.
As with other areas of food science, plant-based meat innovation is protectable under the patent system, leading businesses to build up their patent portfolios and establish their intellectual property.
Global patent activity
While the number of annual global patent applications for plant-based meat substitutes is relatively low, the quantity of yearly patent filings has climbed significantly since 2017. This increase appears to reflect a growing awareness of the sector.
Figure 1: Twenty-year trend: global priority filings – plant-based meat innovations
The US leads innovation in this space, followed by Japan and Europe, each seeing a significant increase in patent filings over the past two years. Filings from Europe have, however, increased most significantly, with Europe the leading jurisdiction in 2020. It will be interesting to see whether the upward trend continues, should investor confidence in the sector be shaken, especially in relation to filings from dedicated, plant-based meat start-ups.
While Beyond Meat has not made a notable number of new patent filings since 2015, the other leading start-up business, Impossible Foods, is still a part of the recent upsurge, with its highest filing year in 2020, as well as starting enforcement of its portfolio through the courts. So, the overall picture is mixed.
Figure 2: Twenty-year trend: priority filings by jurisdiction – plant-based meat innovations
The number of unique assignees has also increased since 2018, suggesting that new ventures are still sensing opportunities to enter the market. However, the ratio of unique assignees to the total number of priority filings has also dropped over this time, indicating that the dominating players may be ramping up their own patent filings to cement market position, and/or suggesting the presence of deep-pocketed multi-nationals investing in the area.
Figure 3: Twenty-year trend: unique assignees by year – plant-based meat innovations
Types of application
Patent applications related to plant-based meats commonly focus on:
- Protein sources and methods of extraction
- Genetically modified plant cells
- Bespoke apparatus and preparation methods to produce the meat-like product
- Taste and texture tuning
- Product engineering to replicate the ‘bleeding’ and ‘cooking’ of meat
- Product specific innovations, e.g., chicken, beef, pork, fish etc.
Notable companies
IFF, Fuji Oil and Nestlé are among the top filers of all time in this technology area, though only the latter two have been top 10 filers since 2015. While IFF (previously Solae) dominated the field pre-2010 and were solely accountable for the dramatic surge in filings between 2004 and 2008, new filings in recent years are minimal.
Meanwhile, several companies are contributing to the present rise in global filing numbers, including several multinationals. While Swiss firm Nestlé remains one of the largest filers in this technology area – and is the highest filer in recent years – other high filing companies include Fuji Oil of Japan, Cargill of the USA and French company, Roquette.
Figure 4: Twenty-year trend: priority filings and assignees – plant-based meat innovations
The 10 filings made by Nestlé in 2020 related to refining plant-based meat products, in particular, improving taste, appearance, and texture of meat analogous. There were also specific filings for plant-based fish and pork products:
The filings made by Cargill in 2020 relate to the appearance and taste of their plant-based products, including an innovation for replicating the effect of animal fat:
The 2020 filings made by Roquette Freres were also about the appearance and taste of their plant-based products, with a focus also on fish-mimicking products:
As mentioned above, plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods was also a high filer in 2020, with interesting innovations including genetically modified transgenic plants that can produce heme polypeptides with improved flavour profiles. As we discussed in an earlier article focused on innovation in plant-based meat, a major, early innovation from Impossible Foods was the discovery that heme is the flavouring in meat that “makes meat taste, well, meaty”. It is not surprising to see Impossible Foods building on that initial success with further developments.
Implications for innovation and future patent filings
The market keeps looking for new solutions, especially for the main protein source, with pea protein emerging as a contender to replace soy (a common cause of food allergies). Pea protein is becoming increasingly popular because it is high in iron and is also gluten-free and hypoallergenic. However, the production of pea protein is currently facing difficulties. Peas are typically sourced from North America and Europe however, due to the changing climate (in particular, recent droughts in the US), the harvest of peas is dwindling and affecting supply. This has caused a huge hike in price, which may threaten the future of this protein type and spur innovation toward other candidates.
Figure 5: Ten-year trend: priority filings and protein type – plant-based meat innovations
Plant-based dairy, particularly milk, has been around for decades. Much of its popularity stems from allergies to traditional animal-based products, such as intolerance to lactose. However, with the recent resurgence of interest in plant-based products, research and development into plant-based dairy has also increased in recent years.
Regarding plant-based milk, Nestle’s patent portfolio for 2020 has focused on areas including:
- Plant-based milk alternative with new taste experience
- Liquid food composition comprising pea proteins and cocoa
- Liquid food composition comprising pea proteins and no dairy protein
- Processes for preparing plant-based fermented dairy product analogue with improved optical properties
- Method of improving the texture and functionality of a dry fractionated plant protein concentrate beverage
Summary
Despite the recent market turmoil and consumer concern, we anticipate rising filing numbers as the market for plant-based dairy and meat alternatives grows, and innovation continues to offer fresh solutions to challenges encountered on the path to commercialization. Research is still being carried out to attempt to solve persistent issues such as replicating the texture, colour, flavour, and taste of the meats made from animals while also achieving good nutritional content at affordable prices.
For a product to be viable for the mass market, as well as being delicious and nutritional, companies must be able to make it economically at large-scale. As a result, as the market expands, we anticipate more patent filings aimed at solving cost and scale-up issues.
Chris Mason Partner
Emily Bevan-Smith Trainee Patent Attorney