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KFC Will Test 3D Printed Lab-Grown Chicken Nuggets This Fall
- KFC announced on July 16 it would test chicken nuggets made with 3D bioprinting technology in Russia this fall.
- The chain partnered with 3D Bioprinting Solutions to create a chicken nugget that will mimic the taste and appearance of its original nuggets at a fraction of the environmental cost.
- The release will be the first time a major chain will sell a lab-grown meat product and may serve as a proof-of-concept for the much-hyped cell-based meat industry.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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KFC will test chicken nuggets made with 3D bioprinting technology in Moscow, Russia, this fall, the chain announced in a July 16 press release.
The chicken chain has partnered with 3D Bioprinting Solutions to create a chicken nugget made in a lab with chicken and plant cells using bioprinting. Bioprinting, which uses 3D-printing techniques to combine biological material, is used in medicine to create tissue and even organs.
The 3D-printed chicken nuggets will closely mimic the taste and appearance of KFC's original chicken nuggets, according to the press release. KFC expects the production of 3D-printed nuggets to be more environmentally friendly than the production process of its traditional chicken nuggets. The fall release will mark the first debut of a lab-grown chicken nugget at a global fast-food chain like KFC.
"Crafted meat products are the next step in the development of our 'restaurant of the future' concept. Our experiment in testing 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken products can also help address several looming global problems. We are glad to contribute to its development and are working to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and, if possible, around the world," Raisa Polyakova, the CEO of KFC Russia and Commonwealth Independent States said in the press release.
Yusef Khesuani, cofounder and managing partner at 3D Bioprinting Solutions, said he hoped the KFC partnership would help accelerate the rise of cell-based meats and make them more widely accessible.
Although it's not currently widely used in food, lab-grown meat is a heavily researched product that many investors hope will be on the market soon. Memphis Meats, a cell-based meat startup, raised $161 million in its latest funding round, and major investors include CPT Capital, a venture fund that has also backed Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.
Also on July 16, KFC announced it would sell Beyond Fried Chicken at over 50 California restaurants for a limited time after successful tests in Nashville, Atlanta, and Charlotte.
KFC Will 3D Print Chicken Nuggets
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Would you eat a 3D-printed chicken nugget if you knew it would help the environment?
Alongside additive manufacturing, 3D-printing has many problem-solving applications including 3D-printed toilets that address sanitation problems, 3D-printed housing, and 3D-printed personal protective equipment (PPE), which has been so desperately needed in the fight against COVID-19.
The latest development comes from KFC, who recently announced its plans to produce 3D-printed chicken nuggets.
The fast-food giant will unveil the nuggets in Russia later this year, but fried-chicken lovers in the rest of the world could be waiting quite some time before they’ll be able to 3D-print chicken from the comfort of their own homes.
How Will the 3D-printed Nuggets Be Produced?
In mid-July, KFC announced its partnership with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, detailing plans to produce the world’s first laboratory chicken as part of its “restaurant of the future” concept.
Bioprinting, which has been used in the creation of tissues and organs for medical purposes, is a method that uses typical 3D-printing techniques to incorporate biological materials.
The research laboratory in Moscow will use both plant material and chicken cells to advance its additive bioprinting technology and produce a nugget that will closely replicate the taste, texture, and look of KFC’s original nuggets. While live animals will scarcely be used in the process, KFC will supply the lab with its seasoning and breading ingredients to attain the taste loved by so many.
What Are the Benefits of 3D-printed Nuggets?
KFC cites several benefits to its 3D-printed chicken nuggets.
Most notably, meat produced in this way is much more environmentally friendly. The American Environmental Science & Technology Journal published a study that revealed that cell-based meat could consume more than half the energy of traditional farm-based meat production, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions and land use.
Raisa Polyakova, General Manager of KFC Russia & CIS, said: “our experiment in testing 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken products can also help address several looming global problems. We are glad to contribute to its development and are working to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and, if possible, around the world."
Other drivers include the growing popularity of healthy and nutritious food and demand for alternatives to traditional meat products. KFC’s 3D-printed nuggets will contain fewer additives.
While this particular product won’t be entirely meat-free, KFC has demonstrated its commitment to becoming a “restaurant of the future.” Last year, for example, the fast-food chain became the first to incorporate Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken into its menus.
What Does the Future Hold for 3D-printed Meat?
Lab-grown meat has been several years in the making, with start-ups including Memphis Meats leading the way in developing the technology.
While consumer attitudes have held back progress, KFC’s latest venture might help to accelerate the industry’s growth.
Image Credit: Pavlovska Yevheniia / Shutterstock.com
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KFC will print chicken nuggets on a 3D printer M. Stulov
Fast food restaurant chain KFC and technical research laboratory 3D Bioprinting Solutions announced the beginning of a collaboration to develop an innovative technology for creating chicken meat using a 3D bioprinter. The idea of developing "meat of the future" is a response to the growing popularity of healthy eating and increasing demand for traditional meat substitutes, the companies said in a joint statement. The result will be the world's first lab-created chicken nuggets that taste and look as close as possible to the original KFC product, while being more sustainable than regular meat.
Product testing is expected to begin this autumn in Moscow.
3D Bioprinting Solutions will develop a 3D bioprinting technology using chicken cells and plant materials that will reproduce the taste and texture of chicken meat. KFC will provide breading and spices. There are currently no analogues of 3D bioprinting technology on the market that allow creating complex products based on animal cells, the report says. The developers claim that craft meat contains the same trace elements as regular meat, but at the same time, various additives typical for traditional animal husbandry cannot be included in the products. In addition, cell meat products are “more ethical,” the report notes.
3D Bioprinting Solutions co-founder and managing partner Yousef Hesuani believes that the development of such technologies in the future will make 3D bioprinted products more affordable. “We hope that the technology created as a result of our cooperation with KFC will help accelerate the introduction of such products to the market,” he says (quoted from a press release).
The use of technologies based on 3D bioprinting can become one of the promising areas for the uninterrupted provision of food to a growing population and reduce the negative impact on the environment, the companies say.
Now there are several companies in the world that develop technologies for cellular printing of meat and fish food products, for example, the Japanese IntegriCulture, commented Andrey Zyuzin, CEO of Efko Innovations. “But the agreement between KFC and 3D Bioprinting Solutions on the development of technology for creating nuggets using cell culture technology is a new stage in the development of food technology both in the world and in Russia,” he told Agroinvestor.
Fast food tried vegetable "meat"
In January, Bloomberg reported that KFC would introduce Beyond Meat's artificial chicken nuggets to menus in two US cities as an experiment. In the summer of 2019, KFC already tested similar products.
Last fall and January 2020, McDonald’s tested the plant-based P. L. T. (Plant. Lettuce. Tomato) burger, which was also based on Beyond Meat’s plant-based “meat” patty, at select Canadian restaurants. Burger King in the US last year experimented with veggie burgers developed in conjunction with startup Impossible Foods. Peas, soybeans, wheat, potatoes and vegetable oils are used as raw materials for cutlets. In Russia, in restaurants and retail chains, vegetable "meat" Beyond Meat, created on the basis of pea protein, appeared in September last year.
Executive Director of Rincon Management Konstantin Korneev considers the idea of KFC a good marketing ploy to expand the line. The network is quite youthful, and young people positively perceive all kinds of innovations, so this is fertile ground for the promotion of cell meat. At the same time, the Russian market is one of the priorities for the company, since it shows fairly high growth rates compared to other countries, he adds.
Restaurant chains in America, Europe and even Russia have already experimented with alternative meats, but these were products based on vegetable protein texturing technologies, not 3D cell printing, Zyuzin notes, adding that 3D printing allows you to make products as similar in composition as possible. to natural. “Most likely, this is a long-term project. But what will be the price of this innovation, and is the consumer ready?” he asks.
Are you ready for the "meat of the future"?
“The price of new products will depend on production technologies, but now they hardly think about it: this is not about business yet, this is a new feature,” Korneev commented to Agroinvestor. In his opinion, the price of such nuggets for consumers may well be even higher than traditional ones. The main thing is how the company will position them. If you say that this is a product for a healthy diet, for those who follow a sports diet and rely on insights that are relevant for young people, then the new nuggets may turn out to be popular, he believes.
True, the long-term prospects for such products and regular consumption, and not one-time for the sake of curiosity, is another story, continues Korneev. “If we talk about Western markets, then there consumers are more informed about the impact of animal husbandry on the environment and when choosing a product, they also take into account its level of “negative impact,” he explains. “It’s more difficult for us, and product positioning based on its lower environmental impact is not the most relevant yet.”
KFC and 3D Bioprinting Solutions to print KFC nuggets on a bioprinter Russian cooperation with the technical research laboratory 3D Bioprinting Solutions to develop an innovative technology for creating chicken meat using a 3D bioprinter. The idea of the craft “meat of the future” came up with the partners as a response to the growing popularity of a healthy lifestyle and, as a result, nutrition, an annual increase in demand for alternative substitutes for traditional meat and the need to develop more environmentally friendly ways of producing food.
The development will result in the world's first lab-created chicken nuggets that will taste and look as close to the original KFC as possible, while being more sustainable than regular meat. The partners plan to receive the finished product for testing in autumn 2020 in Moscow. As part of the 3D Bioprinting Solutions project, one of the world's leaders in bioprinting, will develop a 3D bioprinting technology using chicken cells and plant materials that will reproduce the taste and texture of chicken meat with little or no animal involvement in this process. KFC will provide all the necessary ingredients - breading and spices - to achieve the signature taste of the final product. At the moment, there are no analogues of 3D bioprinting technology on the market, which allows creating complex products based on animal cells.
Bioprinting has a number of advantages. Thus, craft meat contains the same trace elements as regular meat, but during its production, various additives that are acceptable in traditional farming and animal husbandry are excluded from entering the final product, so products based on cellular meat are more environmentally friendly and more ethical - during their production it is excluded harm to animals.
Along with this, KFC remains committed to the principles of animal welfare and works to continuously improve poultry management on farms and throughout the supply chain, including rearing, transportation and processing. [1]
Also, according to the study of the American Environmental Science & Technology Journal [2] , the technology of growing cellular meat has a minimal negative impact on the environment, allowing to reduce the amount of energy consumed by more than half , reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 times and use 100 times less land than when raising animals for the production of traditional meat products.
“At KFC, we closely follow trends and innovations and constantly introduce advanced technologies in the restaurants of the chain, responding to the demands of the time. The production of products from cellular meat is the next step in the development of our concept of the “restaurant of the future”. The development of 3D bioprinting technology for creating chicken products can contribute to solving several important problems that humanity faces at once, so we will work to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and possibly even around the world” - says Raisa Polyakova, General Director of KFC in Russia and the CIS.
“From the beginning, 3D bioprinting technologies are gaining popularity in the field of food production, such as animal meat. The rapid development of such technologies in the future will make 3D bioprinted meat products more affordable, and we hope that the technology created as a result of our cooperation with KFC will help accelerate the introduction of such products to the market,” says Youssef Hesuani, co-founder and managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions .
Scientists around the world are working today to find a solution to sustainably feed the growing population of the Earth and reduce the negative impact on the environment. The use of technologies based on 3D bioprinting can become one of the promising areas in this area.
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KFC, a division of Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), is an international chicken restaurant brand with a long history of achievement and innovation.
