This food researcher is on a mission to make fake meat taste better. Will she succeed?

Whitney Bauck | March 6, 2025

Illustration: Mariettta Bernal / The Guardian

Caroline Cotto’s research group taste-tests meat alternatives so plant-based companies can attract new customers – and help the climate

I am sitting in a Manhattan restaurant on a frigid Thursday in January, eating six mini servings of steak and mashed potatoes, one after another. The first steak I am served has a nice texture but is sort of unnaturally reddish. The second has a great crispy sear on the outside, but leaves behind a lingering chemical aftertaste. The next is fine on its own, but I imagine would be quite delicious shredded, drenched in barbecue sauce and served on a bun with vinegary pickles and a side of slaw.

If you peeked into this restaurant, you’d see nothing out of the ordinary – just a diverse range of New Yorkers huddled over plates of food. But everyone present is here for more than just a hot meal. We’re participating in a blind taste test of plant- (or sometimes mushroom-) based steaks, organized by a group of people who hope that better-tasting meat alternatives just might be a key to fighting the climate crisis.

“We’re looking at food as a key driver of decarbonization,” said Caroline Cotto, director of Nectar, the group behind the taste test. “Taste is the largest primary purchase criteria for consumers, and for these products to gain mainstream adoption, they have to taste good.” But in the past, she admitted, a lot of plant-based meats “have not met consumers’ expectations”.

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