Sustainably feeding the world

Our global food system is on an unsustainable path. Animal agriculture already monopolizes 39% of all habitable land today; meat consumption continues to grow relentlessly and is set to double in less than 30 years. There will not be enough land on earth to meet this demand. The impacts are wide-ranging, and the food industry alone could be responsible for a more than 1.5°C rise in temperature by 2050.

So how can we change course?

A viable solution is to develop new sources of protein and more efficient production processes—but to appeal to consumers, these alternatives will have to genuinely taste and cost the same as conventional meat. Currently, this is an area where the limited investment in research and development is insufficient for the potential demand. And even if a feasible option is created, there’s no infrastructure in place to produce these new products at scale.

We must act urgently. That’s why the Good Food Institute (GFI) and Food System Innovations (FSI) have partnered with Accenture to form the Sustainable Protein Innovation (SPI) Institute. The goal of this groundbreaking scientific institute is to bring alternative proteins into the global mainstream.

Accenture’s first task was an in-depth investigation of the alternative protein innovation ecosystem. Our team identified the leading business models—and bottlenecks preventing progress—to shape the right strategy and operating model for the institute.

Next, we worked with ecosystem partners to develop a solution roadmap to outline the actions the industry must take to advance the development and adoption of meat alternatives. The framework we created will guide the SPI Institute in harnessing the talent, R&D resources and commercialization capabilities of academic institutions, so it can tackle the biggest challenges in the alternative protein industry and accelerate commercially viable solutions.

Finally, we partnered with GFI and FSI to construct the vision for the SPI Institute and led co-creation sessions to frame a concept, which combines a network of collaboration hubs. These hubs will perform scientific research that spans plant-based, fermentation and cell-based (cultivated) alternatives, and include a commercialization incubator to develop and deploy scalable, commercial-ready solutions, launch startups, and publish open-access research.

The new SPI Institute is leading the charge to fundamentally transform the meat alternatives industry. Through its collaboration hubs, it’s positioned to increase the pace of innovation and solve evolving development and commercialization challenges. It also has the capacity to uncover insights industry can use to transform consumer behavior on a global scale.

With our continuing assistance, the SPI Institute is developing a multi-faceted ecosystem. Unique partnerships with leading scientific research organizations will give the SPI Institute access to best-in-class scientific talent and broaden its network of funders and commercial partners. And a powerful narrative, developed by Accenture, is helping the SPI Institute gain visibility with investors, government agencies and industry to drive greater collaboration.

GFI and FSI anticipate that the SPI Institute will rapidly accelerate the development and worldwide adoption of meat alternatives within the decade—not only unlocking tremendous commercial growth, but also enabling the planet to sustainably and equitably feed 10 billion people by 2050.