Big steaks: The ‘vegan meat’ dispute with bite

Against a backdrop of record growth in sustainable food production, two US makers of plant-based foods lock horns in a patent dispute with potentially wider consequences, reports Sarah Speight.

How should the tension between collaboration and competition be balanced when benefits to people and planet are on the table? That is one question raised by a patent dispute between two big US-based players in the manufacture of plant-based foods.

Motif FoodWorks and Impossible Foods are locking horns over the use of heme proteins in their meat alternatives—such as burgers, sausages, nuggets and mince—produced using precision fermentation.

Heme proteins (or hemoproteins) are key ingredients in both manufacturers’ meat-alternative products. Impossible markets a plant-based meat (PBM), while Motif markets a cell-based meat product (CBM)—a distinction argued in the lawsuit.