Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund is spending $60 million to make fake meat taste better

• Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund has allocated $60 million to improve meat alternatives.
• The goal is to improve taste and reduce the cost of plant-based alternatives.
• Fake meat has been hailed as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it doesn’t necessarily taste good.

Jeff Bezos’ philanthropic foundation has earmarked $60 million for improvements to make meat substitutes taste better and cost less.

Lauren Sanchez, Bezos’ fiancee and vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, announced Tuesday that the fund will invest the money as part of a $1 billion effort to transform the food industry.

The $60 million will go toward establishing a research center that will work to improve quality and nutrition and reduce the cost of producing fake meat, according to a press release.

“There are also significant opportunities to enhance texture and enhance flavor through innovations in cell biology and engineering,” the researchers said.

Andy Jarvis, director of the future of food at the foundation, told Bloomberg in a video interview that alternative meats are “essential to staying within the planet’s boundaries and feeding 10 billion people within those boundaries.” he said.

“We need to bring the cost down and we need to make it more flavorful,” he added.

The Earth Fund was established in 2020 with a $10 billion donation from Bezos, the world’s third-richest person, to fight the climate crisis and protect nature.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, increasing consumption of meat and dairy alternatives could make a significant contribution to reducing climate-damaging emissions, especially in high- and middle-income countries.

A July 2022 report from Boston Consulting Group found that investments in meat alternatives reduce emissions more per dollar of invested capital than any other sector.

And, according to the Good Food Institute, the desire for plant-based foods is on the rise. Plant-based meat and seafood will reach $1.4 billion in retail sales in the U.S. in 2022, the company announced.

Despite this, taste and cost remain barriers for consumers to try alternatives.

According to the institute, one-third of U.S. consumers say they won’t buy plant-based meat because it’s too expensive.

Last August, Business Insider’s Grace Dean reported that Beyond Meat’s sales could drop by a third in the second quarter of 2023 as financially-strapped consumers switch to cheaper proteins or abandon them altogether. It is reported that the number has decreased in the near future.