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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1441359
18 BCBUSINESS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 READ THIS They're often overlooked, but stretching back to the 1960s, some of our province's biggest tech successes have unfolded beneath the waves. Vickie Jensen plunges into that history with Deep, Dark and Dangerous: The Story of British Columbia's World-Class Undersea Tech Industry. "It's a little-known fact that much of what is now routine deep-sea diving stuff was actually developed right here in B.C.," says Phil Nuytten, inventor of the Newtsuit, an atmospheric diving suit that debuted at Expo 86. Joining Nuytten are some 40 other local pioneers, including the founders of early submersible maker International Hydrodynamics and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) specialist International Submarine Engineering. Harbour Publishing 282 pages, hardcover, $36.95 • from agritech outfit Winecrush in Summerland. UBC's faculty of land and food systems will assist in research, and Burnaby-based Wismettac Asian Foods will help market the finished prod- uct. "We're looking at a stag- gered release of new products over 18 months," says Wamame president Blair Bullus, "begin- ning early 2022." Right now, the market is dominated by industry pioneers Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Locals are also making their mark, like Victoria's Very Good Butchers and Modern Meat, a Vancouver operation that features the recipes of culi- nary star Karen Barnaby. But Wamame's Wagyu beef project is more ambitious. The goal is to create a premium cut of faux meat that can sit on shelves side-by-side with steaks, roasts and chicken breasts. "We're not going to work on creating meatballs and sausage and lasagna," Bullus explains. Wamame Wagyu will retail for more than other plant- based meat substitutes. "Wagyu beef costs $200 a pound," Bullus points out. "We're thinking [our product will be] 20 to 30 percent more expensive than other plant- based alternatives." Both plant-based meat sub- stitutes and cultured meats face a similar challenge—replicating the look, feel and taste of prime cuts. Products that resemble sausages or beef patties are simpler to create because the meat-culturing process cur- rently produces an end result that is somewhat formless. "Essentially we grow these cells successfully in a medium that looks like a porridge slurry," Harris says. No one is salivating at the prospect of barbecuing lab- grown meat gruel. So the goal is to mimic the structure of whole cuts of meat—what Harris calls "scaffolding." Think of trying to reverse-engineer a sirloin from a bag of hamburger. "It's an in- credibly challenging exercise." Close won't cut it. It's remi- niscent of the "uncanny val- ley," a problem that has long bedevilled robotics and digital art. Attempts to create a replica of the human face become more disturbing and unsettling as one gets closer to perfection —almost human is creepier than clearly not human. Likewise, meat mimicry can't be much less than perfect. "I think consumers are going to have a high expectation of what that chicken breast should look like," Harris says. "It can't look kind of half-assed and not the way they expect it to." "We haven't reached a rep- licable alternative yet," Bullus concedes. Beyond the technical chal- lenges, these products might face other retail hurdles. Could cultured meat appeal to vege- tarians satisfied that no animals were harmed? "It shouldn't be the goal of this technology to shift vegetarians into a meat-eating diet," Harris says. "We need fewer meat eaters, not more. What we care more about is substituting our prod- uct into a meat eater's diet." As for the health angle, Bullus admits that creating a healthy product isn't the main aim of the beef project. "We're attempting to replicate Wagyu beef, which has fat content that can go upward of 50 percent. What we would like to do is recreate that high-fat, high- flavour product but remove some of the more unattractive elements, like methylcellulose, and some of the salt content." (A thickening agent also used in laxatives, methylcellulose is found in products from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.) Might lab-grown meat face the same consumer prejudice now aimed at genetically modified organisms? "There's always some sort of backlash," Harris says. "I think the best approach is, don't hide. Let's have an open dialogue. Here's the process; we're going to show you how it's made every step of the way." Who will win the faux meat battle—cultured or plant-based? Plant-based products are closer to retail-ready, but Harris sees room for everybody. "This isn't an either/or situation," he insists. "Here are two very promising, sustainable ways to provide protein to humans. I think you're going to see con- sumers adopt both." • SOURCES: STATISTICS CANADA, LEGER, SNACK, KRYSTAL WALTER MATCHMAKING, ( the informer ) Let's Fall in Love As February arrives and local singles in your area get set to navigate a semi-normal Valentine's Day, we take a look at the business of romance in B.C. by Melissa Edwards There were 1,659,335 singles in B.C. as of 2016 65% never married 35% divorced, widowed or separated G O F I G U R E 15% Vancouver-based video dating app Snack became the 10th-most-downloaded such app in the U.S. within only 6 months of its launch in February of last year 2.5 million minutes of video viewed per month by fall 2021 OF MARRIED CANADIANS MET THEIR SPOUSE THROUGH A DATING APP AGE 55+: 8% AGE 18-24: 37% 150,000,000 Reported number of registered users of the Vancouver-founded Plenty of Fish dating app 4 million users seeking love daily 2,500 Clients currently seeking a relationship through the B.C. desk of the Krystal Walter Matchmaking agency AVERAGE COST RANGE FOR A 3-YEAR MEMBERSHIP: $2,500 to $6,000 APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF MATCHES MADE IN B.C. SO FAR: 5,000