Shiok Meats: Changing the Way we Eat

Published 10 Jun 2022
Reference 6706
Region Asia
Length 5 page(s)
Summary

Do we have to completely change the way we eat to save the planet? If so, can business lead the way? Case protagonist Sandhya Sriram, a Singapore entrepreneur, is attempting to do just that. With a cofounder, she launches a start-up to ‘grow’ shrimp meat by replicating cells in a lab setting as an alternative to aquaculture settings that pollute the ocean. The case takes students through the challenges and risks of launching a start-up with an ambitious goal – to re-invent food production. In 2021, an opportunity arises to acquire another Singapore start-up – this one working on lab-grown beef. Sriram must decide whether to double down on her investment in cell-cultured meat. Is lab-grown meat a sustainable alternative to aquaculture settings and factory farms? Can the venture be scaled up enough to make a profitable business? Students can be asked to step into the founders’ shoes and also to analyze the case from the perspective of a socially responsible investor.

Teaching objectives

1.To explore the sustainability issues facing the food sector and cell-based meat as a potential solution. 2.To examine various challenges to be overcome in making cell-based meat a viable solution – the economics, scaling up, consumer preferences. 3.To consider how (if at all) business can innovate to resolve real world problems of sustainability – notably in a competitive start-up climate. 4.To ask whether companies can do good and be profitable. 5.To evaluate the role of private investment in driving societal change.

Keywords
  • Sustainability
  • Biotech
  • Socially Responsible Investment
  • Startups
  • Lab-grown Meat
  • Cell-based Meat
  • Alternative Proteins
  • Climate Change
  • Singapore
  • Radical Corporate Sustainability
  • Sustainable Consumption
  • Societal Change
  • Q22022