Are You Going to Eat That? Mark Gale, CEO, Charleston/Orwig — How Food Tech Companies are Racing to Deliver Plant-Based & Clean Meats to Your Dining Table

Many Americans love a good burger. For some it's a summertime staple. Fire up the grill; grab the cheese, tomatoes, and mayo and get set for a truly all-American meal. But as food technology is perhaps just years away from potentially altering the American diet the question remains… are you going to eat that? Jump on board a fascinating discussion with Mark Gale, CEO of Charleston|Orwig, a strategic marketing and communications firm, as he explains how lab-grown meats and plant-based proteins may soon be what's for dinner. The marketing CEO will give us a peek behind the curtain into food labs that are racing to develop affordable protein alternatives that could put a dent in the traditional meat industry with healthier, environmentally-friendly products. Mark Gale will outline current problems facing food tech companies such as cost and taste/experience. Currently, the lab process for developing protein alternatives requires serum from animal blood, which is expensive and has made delivery of products to the marketplace difficult. But beyond cost, the eating experience is what may make or break lab-grown meat alternative products. We'll get an in-depth analysis of the kinds of cells that are easily produced, such as muscle cells, versus the combination of cells that typically make up meats that people enjoy. As purely plant-based products are making their way into popular restaurants such as TGI Fridays, White Castle, and more, food tech companies see an open door. They're banking their hopes upon a myriad of studies that show younger generations, such as Gen Xers and Millennials, are interested in adding non-meat products to their diet. And for the first time in history, younger generations are spending more food dollars eating out than in the grocery store, which could bode well for technology-based food companies.