Tracker

Sector

The alternative-protein industry beyond Agronomics: funding, market size and regulation.

Raised 2021–25

$13.7bn

Peak $6.9bn in 2021

Raised in 2025

$881m

−21% on 2024

Government funding

$2.5bn+

Cumulative to 2025, 33 countries[1]

Specialist companies

305

163 fermentation, 142 cultivated[2] [3]

Investment

$0$2bn$4bn$6bn$8bn$3bn2020$6.9bn2021$3.2bn2022$1.6bn2023$1.1bn2024$881m2025
Table
Capital raised by alternative-protein companies, USD
YearFermentationCultivatedPlant-basedTotal
2020$483m$356m$2.2bn$3bn
2021$1.8bn$1.5bn$3.6bn$6.9bn
2022$778m$900m$1.5bn$3.2bn
2023$456m$267m$859m$1.6bn
2024$632m$144m$342m$1.1bn
2025$357m$74m$450m$881m

GFI analysis of Net Zero Insights data (April 2026 reports). Includes listed companies, except cultivated (private only).[2] [3] [4]

Sales today

  • Meat and seafood
  • Dairy alternatives

$28.9bn

Global plant-based retail sales, 2025
+3% on 2024[4]

By category

  • Milk Milk: $18.2bn $18.2bn
  • Meat and seafood Meat and seafood: $6.6bn, all meat and seafood $6.6bn
  • Yogurt Yogurt: $1.8bn $1.8bn
  • Ice cream Ice cream: $1.4bn $1.4bn
  • Cheese Cheese: $900m $900m

By region

  • Europe Europe: $10.1bn, of which meat and seafood $3.6bn $10.1bn
  • Asia Pacific Asia Pacific: $9.2bn, of which meat and seafood $360m $9.2bn
  • North America North America: $6.9bn, of which meat and seafood $1.9bn $6.9bn
  • Latin America Latin America: $1.7bn, of which meat and seafood $500m $1.7bn
  • Middle East and Africa Middle East and Africa: $1.1bn, of which meat and seafood $260m $1.1bn

No comparable sales data yet for cultivated meat or fermentation.

Forecasts

  • Sales 2025
  • Forecast
  • Range or high case

Plant-based meat

High case $118bn · Bloomberg Intelligence, Aug 2021[5]

2025: $6.6bn $74bn by 2030

Needed

+62%/yr

2025: +8%[4]

Plant-based foods

Bloomberg Intelligence, Aug 2021[5]

2025: $28.9bn $162bn by 2030

Needed

+41%/yr

2025: +3%[4]

Cultivated meat

If costs keep falling · McKinsey, Jun 2021[6]

$25bn by 2030

Precision fermentation

Food ingredients and chemicals · Synonym and BCG, Feb 2024[7]

$200bn by 2040

All alternative proteins

BCG and Blue Horizon, Mar 2021[8]

Range $46bn–$318bn · Market-research firms, Aug 2026[9] [10]

$290bn by 2035

Sales are global retail (Euromonitor, via GFI). Forecast scopes differ, so read the gaps as orders of magnitude.

Regulation

Approvals for cultivated meat and precision-fermented proteins, by country and US state.

  • Approved
  • Under review
  • Banned
  • Step coming up
  • Recent step

Coming up

  1. Mid-Dec 2026

    Cultivated

    Food ministers' 60-day review window closes[12]

    Notified 13 Oct. Unless ministers ask for a review, the duck approval is gazetted.

  2. Late 2026 (company target)

    Fermentation

    FSANZ decision on Eden Brew's beta-casein[13] [14]

    FSANZ has not published a decision date.

  3. Feb 2027

    Cultivated

    FSA sandbox ends[15]

    Target: risk assessments of two cultivated-meat dossiers (Parima). Ministers then decide; no date set for a first human-food approval.

  4. Jun 2027

    Cultivated

    Indiana moratorium ends (HB 1425)[16]

  5. Sep 2027

    Cultivated

    Texas ban expires (SB 261 sunset)[16]

  6. Q1 2027 at the earliest

    Cultivated

    EFSA safety opinion on Parima's cultivated duck[17] [18] [19]

    The only cultivated-meat dossier EFSA is assessing (filed Jul 2024), now near the end of its assessment. A positive opinion leads to a Commission proposal and a member-state vote.

  7. No date set

    Cultivated

    EFSA validation of Mosa Meat's cultivated fat[20]

    Received by EFSA in Feb 2026; still not validated at 30 Jun 2026, so the nine-month assessment has not started.

Last 12 months

  1. 5 Nov 2026

    Cultivated

    Ivy Farm's cultivated Wagyu cleared for UK pet food[21]

    Human-food applications still under FSA review.

  2. 4 Nov 2026

    Cultivated

    Appeals court hears bid to block the Texas ban[22]

    Upside Foods and Wildtype seek an injunction; ruling pending, and the ban stays in force meanwhile.

  3. 28 Oct 2026

    Fermentation

    FDA 'no questions' letters for precision-fermented casein[23]

    Formo and Those Vegan Cowboys, for use in cheese alternatives.

  4. 6 Oct 2026

    Cultivated

    FSANZ approves Parima's cultivated duck[24]

    Application A1341, for foie gras and pâté. Second cultivated meat approved in Australia and New Zealand, after Vow.

  5. 14 Sep 2026

    Cultivated

    Ministry report urges France to set its stance before the EU vote[17]

    Advisers rate precision fermentation ahead of cultivated meat.

  6. 20 Aug 2026

    Fermentation

    Consultation closes on Eden Brew's beta-casein[14]

    Application A1342, the first precision-fermented milk protein assessed by FSANZ.

  7. 4 Aug 2026

    Cultivated

    Singapore approves Aleph Farms' cultivated beef[25]

    First cultivated beef cleared by SFA.

  8. 15 Apr 2026

    Cultivated

    Singapore approves Parima's cultivated duck[26]

    Its second approval there, after chicken (Oct 2025).

  9. 1 Apr 2026

    Fermentation

    FDA 'no questions' letter for All G's lactoferrin[27] [28]

    Precision-fermented bovine lactoferrin.

  10. 23 Mar 2026

    Cultivated

    Appeals court upholds Florida's ban[29]

    Not preempted by federal law; Upside Foods' wider challenge continues.

  11. 12 Mar 2026

    Cultivated

    Governor signs five-year moratorium[30]

    In force 1 Jul 2026 to 30 Jun 2031.

  12. 13 Feb 2026

    Cultivated

    EFSA receives Mosa Meat's cultivated-fat dossier[20]

    Filed with the Commission in Jan 2025.

  13. 16 Jan 2026

    Cultivated

    Judge lets the challenge to the Texas ban proceed[31]

    Motion to dismiss denied, but no injunction: the ban stays in force.

  14. Jan 2026

    Cultivated

    FSA and FSS publish guidance for cultivated-meat applications[32]

  15. 25 Nov 2025

    Fermentation

    FSANZ accepts Eden Brew's beta-casein application[14]

    Application A1342.

  16. 18 Nov 2025

    Cultivated

    Parliament votes to ban cultivated meat[33] [34]

    140 votes to 10. Production, sale and marketing banned; the second EU country after Italy.

Cultivated (cell-cultured) meat and seafood for human food.

Approved

Under review

Banned

Sources

34 documents
  1. 2026 State of Global Policy: Public investment in protein diversification Good Food Institute · Apr 2026
  2. 2026 State of the Industry: Fermentation for meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, and ingredients Good Food Institute · Apr 2026
  3. 2026 State of the Industry: Cultivated meat, seafood, and ingredients Good Food Institute · Apr 2026
  4. 2026 State of the Industry: Plant-based meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, and ingredients Good Food Institute · Apr 2026
  5. Plant-based foods market to hit $162 billion in next decade Bloomberg Intelligence · 11 Aug 2021
  6. Cultivated meat: Out of the lab, into the frying pan McKinsey & Company · Jun 2021
  7. Breaking the Cost Barrier on Biomanufacturing: capacity must grow 20x for a $200 billion industry by 2040 Synonym and BCG · 27 Feb 2024
  8. Alternative protein market to reach at least $290 billion by 2035 (Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation) Blue Horizon and BCG · 24 Mar 2021
  9. Alternative Protein Market: $15.8 billion in 2025, $46.2 billion by 2035 Next Move Strategy Consulting · 29 Jul 2026
  10. Alternative Protein Market: $107.6 billion in 2025, $318.4 billion by 2035 Global Market Insights · Aug 2026
  11. Taking Alternative Proteins Mainstream Boston Consulting Group · 22 Feb 2023
  12. Notification Circular 415-26 Food Standards Australia New Zealand · 13 Oct 2026
  13. Eden Brew eyes 2026 approval of animal-free milk protein in Australia & New Zealand Green Queen
  14. A1342: Beta-casein protein preparation from GM Komagataella phaffii Food Standards Australia New Zealand · 9 Jul 2026
  15. The UK's cultivated meat sandbox will deliver two risk assessments. Neither is an approval. Lifemate Tech · 11 Aug 2026
  16. Five US cultivated meat clearances, eight state bans, and one clearance in receivership Lifemate Tech · 2026
  17. French ministry advisers rate precision fermentation ahead of cultivated meat, urge Paris to set stance before EU vote vegconomist · 6 Oct 2026
  18. GOURMEY files the first EU novel food submission for cultured meat EIT Food · Jul 2024
  19. "A very good time to invest": Cellular agriculture ramps up for landmark year in Europe Food Ingredients First · 9 Nov 2026
  20. Mosa Meat's cultivated-fat dossier took 13 months to reach EFSA Lifemate Tech · 12 Aug 2026
  21. UK start-up secures approval to supply lab-grown Wagyu to pet food market Food Manufacture · 5 Nov 2026
  22. As Texas goes blue, will cultivated meat get a reprieve? Green Queen · 5 Nov 2026
  23. Those Vegan Cowboys get FDA letter for animal-free casein FoodNavigator · 28 Oct 2026
  24. FSANZ Board Communique: 6 October 2026 Extraordinary Meeting (A1341 cell-cultured duck approved) Food Standards Australia New Zealand · 6 Oct 2026
  25. Cultivated beef steak to hit Singapore food scene with historic approval FoodNavigator · 4 Aug 2026
  26. Parima gets regulatory approval for cultivated foie gras FoodNavigator · 15 Apr 2026
  27. All G secures FDA 'no questions' letter for precision-fermented lactoferrin Agronomics Limited (RNS) · 1 Apr 2026
  28. All G secures FDA 'no questions' letter under GRAS for precision-fermented lactoferrin in US Protein Production Technology · Apr 2026
  29. Federal appellate panel upholds Florida's ban on lab-grown meat Florida Phoenix · 23 Mar 2026
  30. Rhoden signs moratorium on cell-cultured protein South Dakota Public Broadcasting · 12 Mar 2026
  31. Federal judge grants early win in challenge to Texas ban on cultivated meat Institute for Justice · 16 Jan 2026
  32. “World first” guidance issued on cell-cultivated meat Environmental Health News (CIEH) · 8 Jan 2026
  33. Hungarian Parliament votes to ban artificial meat Telex · 18 Nov 2025
  34. Hungary bans cultivated meat Just Food · Nov 2025