Determinants and Consequences of Using Lab-Grown Meat in Egyptian Tourist Food Establishments: Evidence from Customers' Perspectives

As innovation foods, once tourist food establishments use new food products, they will face different reaction concerns and questions from customers about this new technology. This research aims to identify the extent of the Egyptian consumer's acceptance and willingness to eat lab-grown meat. For achieving research aim, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of customers in Egyptian tourist food establishments, 523 valid responses were received and analyzed by SPSS V.28. The results indicated that customers do not have enough information about lab-grown meat to accept the experience of eating it in the future. This information includes sensory characteristics, nutritional value, and environmental characteristics, the religious and moral aspects compared to natural meat, in addition to the cost factor of lab-grown meat. Therefore, maybe customers' acceptance and confidence in lab-grown meat is the major obstacle to the marketing process of this new product in Egyptian food establishments. Based on the results, some recommendations were suggested and directed to food science professionals, factory owners, restaurant owners, chefs, and food establishments. One of the main recommendations was that Egyptian customers should be made aware of lab-grown meat through corporate media and publicity for the sustainability and safety of food and nutrition and the health of lab-grown meat through the dissemination of adequate information about lab-grown meat by food science professionals.