The notorious expensive and time-consuming new food regulations could limit the advancement of alternative meat options, according to FoodNavigator.

An immense obstacle

The regulation of new foods is a "massive obstacle" said Leonie Jahn, co-founder of MATR Foods, which produces plant-based meat alternatives based on fungal fermentation. The approval process in Europe "severely limits what can be done and how fast and viable the business plan can be," she said.

"Also, for a university, it's challenging to obtain the necessary funding for toxicological studies; on the other hand, it's essential to ensure that the foods we develop are safe." This is important, she emphasized, considering the contamination risks associated with fungi.

"While the European ecosystem is challenging, the global ecosystem is changing, and there are faster processes in Asia and North America." For instance, Europe has been accused of "lagging behind" after the US approval of two cultured meat products.

The process for new foods in Europe could be improved, agreed Staffan Hillberg, president of Millow, which makes mycelium and oat-based meat analogs. "It's a very time-consuming and costly process, and we decided to be safe. Because of this problem, we use mycelium strains that are not new foods."

But there are probably millions of unexplored mushroom strains that offer exciting opportunities for innovation in the white space for food and ingredient companies, as heard in our digital event.

Mushrooms and mycelium, the root-like structure of a mushroom, have the potential to enhance the flavor, texture, nutritional qualities, and even color of meat analogs, for example. They can thus be produced without the need for additives or extensive processing.

"Different strains have different characteristics in terms of taste, color, texture. So if we were to play around with them and bring some of them to market, we could create some pretty innovative products," Hillberg said.

The challenging market

However, challenges abound for meat alternatives as well as for the dairy alternative category. But slowing category growth can be met by building ingredients, infrastructure, investments, services, and production ecosystems that best meet consumer needs.

Edwin Bark, Senior Vice President at Redefine Meat, called for greater "quality and versatility" in this category. "We can't just eat burgers and meatballs [plant-based] every day of the week," he said. "We need to provide a much broader variety of meat that allows us to integrate all types of dishes and culinary cultures."

Redefine Meat's portfolio includes minced meat and premium muscle cuts, which are served by top chefs in about 3,000 restaurants, hotels, and other foodservice locations in Europe.

Calls for collaboration

Innovation and collaboration are needed throughout the value chain, Bark emphasized, to enhance quality in the industry.

"We need new proteins, we need new binding systems; we need new processes that will provide better textures and more complex structures. It takes a great effort from the value chain. I'm a big believer in ecosystems for collaborative innovation. The challenge is too big to be tackled by a single company.

"We're not helped by having weak competitors. In fact, we would benefit from a much stronger competitive environment because it would drive even more penetration of plant-based meat, which we need to achieve."