Hypothetical feed conversion efficiency of cultured meat compared to conventional animal production

The pressure on agro-livestock systems calls for a critical review of production models in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Cultured meat (CM) emerges as an alternative but requires comparable parameters for evaluation. This paper proposes a reformulation of the concept of Feed Conversion Rate (FCR) and Edible Meat Conversion Rate (EMCR), traditionally employed in animal-derived food production, by adapting it to the context of cellular agriculture, in particular to CM. After an analysis of the FCR in the main conventional sectors (poultry, swine, cattle and fish), used for the calculation of EMCR, a theoretical model was developed for the calculation of the Cell-based Meat Conversion Ratio (CMCR), based on the chemical composition of the culture media. The estimated CMCRs (0.316–0.687) and the CMCR on a dry matter basis for CM (2.29) were lower than those reported for traditional animal supply chains, indicating a potentially higher theoretical efficiency. However, these estimates do not account for the specific resources required to produce the ingredients of the culture medium, the actual metabolic efficiency of the cells, the accumulation of toxic metabolites (e.g., ammonia, lactate), nor the potential impact of future media formulations based on alternatives to foetal bovine serum. Although a theoretical calculation, this study provides a useful conceptual framework for the definition and optimisation of FCR in alternative cell culture systems, laying the basis for the development of reliable metrics in cellular agriculture and comparative evaluation between innovative and conventional food systems.