Colorado-based alt-meat company Meati has launched a scientific advisory board to conduct research on the nutritional profile of Meati’s products and understand the impact on human health while addressing the scalability of its products. The board will focus on five themes: nutrition, taste and sensory, sustainability, affordability, and scale.

The advisory board will consist of five members and is headed by Dr. Harold Schmitz, general partner at The March Group and senior scholar at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis. The board’s initial responsibility will involve evaluating the nutritional composition of Meati's product to assess its potential impact on human health, which may assist the company in qualifying any future nutritional claims.

Analyst QuickTake: One of the reasons for the decline in demand for plant-based meat could be the shift in consumer perception toward meat alternatives. Although many early adopters believed that the health benefits of plants would apply to all plant-based food products, a study by Deloitte revealed that positive perceptions surrounding plant-based meat products have decreased, with only 60% of respondents believing that plant-based food is healthier in 2022, compared to 68% in 2021. Meati is taking steps to enhance the positive perception of its products among health-conscious consumers by conducting research on the full spectrum of health benefits its products offer, in collaboration with leading scientists in the fields of nutrition and food science.