Resumo

Climate change, environmental and animal ethics concerns, the increasing demand for meat consumption, and limited resources are some of the issues society is struggling with. In this context, alternatives to the traditional protein business are rising. Cultivated meat emerges as a new form of technological innovation in which the meat is produced from a small amount of a live animal, using cell reproduction technology.

This paper aims to discuss the cultivated-meat ecosystem, which attracts researchers, investors, firms, governments, entrepreneurs, food industry experts, and other actors worldwide. Our focus is to analyze its formation in the Brazilian context and the drivers and barriers perceived by this nascent industry regarding four dimensions (technological, legal/institutional, environmental/ sustainable, and marketing-related from the consumer-behavior perspective). We also investigate the relation between their challenges and their impact in the meat global value chain (GVC).

Yang and Yan framework (2019) presents five conceptual variables identified as innovative economies driving forces (technological innovation; development of new business; market performance; competitiveness of industrial clusters and strategic orientation). We also address the connection between innovation ecosystems challenges and global value chains (GVC). According to Reis et al (2021), radical innovation can substantially modify global value chain’s activities and reframe its geographic scope; it may also embody a change from natural resource-intensive to technology-intensive activities.

A qualitative study with different stakeholders complemented by secondary sources was conducted. Based on in-depth interviews with the cultivated meat industry experts from multiple areas (academia, enterprises, startups, and NGOs) and several secondary data such as consultancy and academic reports, we discuss the main drivers, barriers, and characteristics perceived by the multiple stakeholders regarding the dimensions already defined. Drivers and barriers and their details were coded and organized according to the qualitative data analysis framework proposed by Gioia et al. (2013).

First, we triangulated the data from the interviews and secondary data, creating an Excel matrix for the four dimensions (technological, legal/institutional, environment/sustainable, and marketing-related). For each dimension, we categorized the drivers and barriers faced for the ecosystem development in Brazil. We used the thematic categorization technique. Pieces of information collected from the interviews were codified from the transcriptions. Afterwards, codification was revised to improve the codes, merge those with similar issues, or exclude unrepresentative ones with few mentions.

This study presented a set of challenges and insights to the development of the cultivated-meat industry and ecosystem in Brazil, precisely on industry production and development forecasts, government support and regulatory recommendations, environmental challenges, changes in consumer mindsets, health-related aspects and other additional issues and their connection to the GVC. It has practical implications, providing a multiple-stakeholder view on the drives and barriers orchestration needed for the CM ecosystem's development.

Gioia, D.A., Corley, K.G., Hamilton, A.L., 2013. Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research. Organizational Research Methods, 16, 15–31. Reis, G. G., Heidemann, M. S., Goes, H.A.A.; Molento, C.F.M. (2021). Can radical innovation mitigate environmental and animal welfare misconduct in global value chains? The case of cell-based tuna. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 169, Aug 2021. Yang, T.-K., & Yan, M.-R. (2019). Exploring the Enablers of Strategic Orientation for Technology-Driven Business Innovation Ecosystems. Sustainability, 11(20), 5779. MDPI AG.