Europe has an amazing food culture and heritage. There is such an abundance of variety and creativity to be found across the continent, from menu items that have conquered the global market such as pizza to Gamalost, that distinctively Norwegian cheese made from skimmed cow’s milk that was once an important part of diets in Norway but today is hard to find elsewhere… unless you're lucky.

From France to Bulgaria and from Sicily to Finland, Europe offers myriad culinary delights. But it's fair to say that until not very long ago, associating European food with vegan food wasn't exactly a strong connection. That's changed in the past several decades, and now tens of millions of people across the continent identify as vegetarian, vegan, or flexitarian, those who are reducing animal protein but are still flexible in their consumption. Alongside the growing numbers of Euro-vegans, the EU plant-based food industry has unsurprisingly seen astronomical growth. Over just 2 years, between 2018 to 2020, the industry shot up by 49% -- accumulating some €3.6 billion in sales.

While that figure sounds like a lot, it could be and should be much higher. Unfortunately, delays in approval by EU regulators have slowed the approval of new plant-based protein products from Europe to a crawl, providing an opening for American – but also increasingly Israeli – competitors.

There are plenty of European innovator stories. One example is Planted, a company founded in 2019 in Zurich. Planted makes plant-based meat substitutes from pea protein, pea fibers, water, and rapeseed oil. But this example of success is also an example of contrast. In 2021, Planted announced it had secured 19 million Swiss Francs. The company may have gotten more investment capital since then, but Redefine Meat, an Israeli meat company startup that produces 3D printed animal-free meat substitutes announced in 2021 that they had raised US$29 million, and then in May 2022, reported they were raising a further US$250 million US. The argument being put forward by alternative protein market insiders is that the EU needs to step up its game in approvals and funding so as to not get left further behind in this lucrative and meaningful market sector.

By meaningful we mean the impact plant-based meat substitutes – and animal protein substitutes in general – will have on the health of people, and the planet they live on. It's no secret that the meat industry, in particular large-scale operations commonly called factory farming, is unsustainable and incredibly polluting. The West might be seeing a sharp rise in the numbers of people willing to consider cutting meat out of their life, but in other places of the world such as newly rich China, demand is still on a sharp upward trajectory. Globally each year the demand for meat rockets up, but at the same time, the UN estimates there could be nine or more billion people living on Earth within just a few decades. Those two facts are incompatible. You can't have more meat and more people on a planet with limited resources and increasing problems with live-or-die issues such as water supply and pollution. Plant-based meat that has the flavour, texture, smell, look, and mouthfeel of meat could be an incredibly useful, nutritious, and delicious solution to this ‘meat demand vs. the planet’ conundrum.

Plant-based meat substitutes also offer huge profit-making potential. It's clear VC funders and others in the United States, Israel, and Europe see this potential. But Europe isn't keeping pace as of 2022. Europe represents an affluent market compared to many other regions, and European consumers have the capital to spend on even high-priced meat and dairy substitutes. In the United States consolidation is taking place with large food conglomerates snatching up smaller plant-based producers, and while some have a problem with this, overall, the result will be a ramping up of production and lower costs. In Israel, they've elected to take their fake meat very seriously and focus primarily on the taste and textures that can be replicated with science – sometimes via a 3D printer and AI technology. Israel-based companies are also on track to getting their products, which have received rave reviews from even celebrity chefs such as Marco Pierre White, down to price parity with animal meat within a very short time frame – and then moving to become cheaper.

Meanwhile, although Europe can boast several success stories, such as Planted or the Netherlands Vivira – which was acquired by food giant JBS in 2021 for €341 million – for the size of the European market and the enthusiasm of European vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians, it's too little and too slow. Europe should be and could be a powerhouse in the plant-based protein revolution, which is set to be worth US$25 billion by 2030 (although others have estimates that are as high as US$85 billion.) Even in extremely meat-friendly China, a 2021 EuroMonitor International report noted that as of next year, the Chinese vegan food market will be worth approximately US$12 billion, while a study from DuPont says China will be one of the fastest-growing global markets for plant-based products and demand will shoot up by 200% over the following 5 years. Europe should not leave its own market – as well as global markets including mega markets like China – to US, Israeli, or Asian manufacturers. Europe has the technology, the innovation, and the domestic customers, to be a large player in the alternative protein sector. But until regulatory issues are dealt with and investors feel more comfortable putting more money into European manufacturers, the trading block will be needlessly left behind.