Top stories in Cultivated Meat – January 2024

In the ecosytem of cultivated meat, January 2024 has been a month marked by significant developments that signal a light shift towards sustainable food systems and innovation. At the forefront, the USDA announced its commitment to cellular agriculture as a pivotal element in achieving climate and food innovation goals, backed by a substantial investment exceeding $37 million in alternative proteins research since 2021. This move underscores the growing recognition of cultivated meat’s role in diversifying food sources and reducing environmental impact.

Illinois is poised to transform its agricultural legacy, traditionally known for livestock farming, into a leading hub for alternative protein production, leveraging its vast farmland and agricultural expertise. This transition signifies a broader trend where regions with deep-rooted agricultural histories are embracing the future of food.

In the corporate arena, Israel’s regulatory nod to Aleph Farms for its cultivated beef sale marks a significant commercial milestone, potentially setting a precedent for global market acceptance. ProFuse Technology’s unveiling of ProFuse-S1, a media supplement that significantly accelerates muscle cell differentiation, represents a breakthrough in cultivated meat research. Hoxton Farms’ focus on cultivating fat to enhance flavor profiles and BioCraft Pet Nutrition’s recognition in the vegan pet food sector highlight the sector’s innovation breadth. The establishment of the Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein at UC Davis and UMAMI Bioworks’ strategic partnerships underscore the collaborative efforts needed to scale alternative proteins.

On the investment front, Finland’s focused study on its FoodTech landscape and venture capital trends, alongside expert predictions for 2024, reveal a growing interest in sustainable and innovative food solutions. These insights are critical for understanding the sector’s direction and potential growth areas.

Ethical and regulatory considerations continue to evolve, with the FSA exploring new approval processes for cell-cultivated products, indicating a shift towards more supportive regulatory environments. However, debates in the EU and legislative efforts in Arizona highlight the ongoing challenges and divergent views surrounding cultivated meat.

Research remains a cornerstone of the sector’s advancement. UK farmers’ mixed perceptions of cultivated meat underscore the need for dialogue and transparency, while innovative approaches like using decellularized apple as a bioscaffold for meat production showcase the creative solutions driving the industry forward.

See you next month!

News

USDA: ‘We will need cellular agriculture’ to reach climate, food innovation goals January 27, 2024
Further, USDA’s Science and Research Strategy 2023-2026 outlines R&D to diversify the US’ future food systems by expanding novel foods, protein sources and nutrients beyond traditional agricultural commodities. Since FY 2021, USDA invested more than $37m in R&D for alternative proteins, including cultivated, plant-based and fermentation-based proteins. The USDA’s extramural… Read more: USDA: ‘We will need cellular agriculture’ to reach climate, food innovation goals

Illinois, Once the Slaughterhouse of the World, to be a Leader in Fake Meat January 17, 2024
Illinois has a strong agricultural industry, with over 72,000 farms and farmland covering 75 percent of the state’s total land area. The state is a leading producer of soybeans, corn, and swine, and ranks fifth in the nation in agricultural exports. Agriculture is deeply rooted in Illinois’s heritage, with family… Read more

Compagnies and key players

ProFuse Technology unveils new media supplement ProFuse-S1 January 31, 2024
ProFuse-S1 boasts five features that revolutionise skeletal muscle research. Firstly, it boosts cell differentiation and maturation. The supplement is shown to significantly accelerate muscle cell differentiation, fusion and maturation, enabling researchers to achieve desired results in a fraction of the usual time, streamlining project timelines and fast-tracking research milestones. Source:… Read more: ProFuse Technology unveils new media supplement ProFuse-S1

Israel approves sale of Aleph Farms’ cultivated beef January 30, 2024
Health officials in Israel have sanctioned the sale of cultivated beef made by Aleph Farms.Israel’s Ministry of Health has issued regulatory approval for Aleph Cuts in the form of a “No Questions” letter.The first Aleph Cut to be introduced to diners in Israel — the cultivated Petit Steak — will… Read more: Israel approves sale of Aleph Farms’ cultivated beef

Hoxton Farms, cultivating an irresistibly fatty future January 29, 2024
Consumers need mouthwatering options and the secret to developing them is fat – which gives meat its flavour. That’s where we saw the opportunity to change the meat industry, growing cultivated fat with an innovative process that blends advanced computational thinking with state-of-the-art biology and century-old techniques. We sell our… Read more: Hoxton Farms, cultivating an irresistibly fatty future

BioCraft Pet Nutrition acclaimed for vegan pet food innovation January 28, 2024
Delaware-based BioCraft Pet Nutrition has been selected as one of three finalists for the inaugural Vegan Women Summit (VWS) Awards in the Innovation of the Year category. The company joins two other finalists in the category — New York-based Uncased BioLeather and Berkeley-based UPSIDE Foods: Cultivated Chicken — and 23… Read more: BioCraft Pet Nutrition acclaimed for vegan pet food innovation

Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein Launches January 22, 2024
The University of California, Davis, is leading the establishment of a new Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein, or iCAMP. The center will work toward large-scale commercialization and technological advancement of alternative proteins, including cultivated meat (from animal cells grown in large fermentors), plant- and fungal-based foods, and innovative… Read more: Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein Launches

UMAMI Bioworks: ‘Startups cannot be in the capex business’ January 20, 2024
At UMAMI Bioworks, he said, “We have the tech, but we have to partner with food companies who generate a lot of cash that can be turned into capex investments in future production capacity. It’s also much easier for me to get traditional bank debt financing for a factory if… Read more: UMAMI Bioworks: ‘Startups cannot be in the capex business’

Australia cultivated meat firm Magic Valley details 2024 plans as regulatory approval nears January 13, 2024
Australian cultivated meat firm Magic Valley has detailed its production and partnership objectives for 2024 as it seeks to get products in front of consumers in 2025. The company is currently in discussions with various established wholesale and food producers in Australia who have displayed notable interests in cultivated meat.… Read more: Australia cultivated meat firm Magic Valley details 2024 plans as regulatory approval nears

GOOD Meat suffers setback in spat with ABEC over unpaid bills January 12, 2024
In a recent interview with WIRED, Eat Just founder Josh Tetrick said he had abandoned plans for 250,000-L bioreactors (uncharted territory for animal cell culture), adding that, “The reality for us now is we need to figure out a way to build large-scale facilities without spending north of half a… Read more: GOOD Meat suffers setback in spat with ABEC over unpaid bills

Israel’s Steakholder Foods Unveils ‘Industry-First’ 3D-Printed Vegan Eel January 6,
startup Steakholder Foods has unveiled the industry’s first 3D-printed eel to battle an industry riddled with overfishing and facing the threat of extinction. It is expected to include some cultivated eel cells at a future stage. Source: Israel’s Steakholder Foods Unveils ‘Industry-First’ 3D-Printed Vegan Eel

Market, investment, prospective

Finland’s foodtech landscape and funding trends unveiled in Tesi’s study January 11, 2024
Tesi’s study aims to provide an extensive overview of Finland’s FoodTech landscape, focusing on company diversity, funding trends (specifically venture capital and growth equity), and an exploration of investor activities within the sector. Inspired by renowned reports from industry experts like DigitalFoodLab and Forward Fooding, this research focuses solely on… Read more: Finland’s foodtech landscape and funding trends unveiled in Tesi’s study

2024 Food Trends Unveiled: Our Expert Predictions for a Sustainable Food Revolution January 7, 2024
Before I get into specific food and product trends, I wanted to make some industry-wide predictions (some are less what I predict and more what I am hoping for) about how I think the sector needs to evolve this coming year. Source: 2024 Food Trends Unveiled: Our Expert Predictions for… Read more: 2024 Food Trends Unveiled: Our Expert Predictions for a Sustainable Food Revolution

FoodTech trends in 2024 – DigitalFoodLab January 5, 2024
The “Future of Food – FoodTech trends in 2024” document by DigitalFoodLab presents a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of food technology. Here’s a summary of the key points:– The Resilient Farm– Sustainable Proteins– Instant Retail– Food as Medicine– Food Automation– The Smart Supply Chain Source: FoodTech trends in… Read more: FoodTech trends in 2024 – DigitalFoodLab

Laws, ethics and lobbies

FSA considering changes to regulated products approval process January 26, 2024
Today, the FSA’s deputy director of food policy, Natasha Smith, told The Cell Base: “The FSA is committed to supporting business innovation in new markets like that of cell-cultivated products, whilst making sure food is safe and is what it says it is. Ensuring the safety of any new and… Read more: FSA considering changes to regulated products approval process

EU cultivated meat conversation is fraught January 25, 2024
The conversation was eventually tabled by Austria’s Agriculture Minister, but not before sparking conversation in the chamber. Opposing the note, delegates from Denmark and the Netherlands drew attention to the EU’s extant regulatory framework, which is robust and already grappling with safety concerns around cultivated meat products. Source: EU cultivated… Read more: EU cultivated meat conversation is fraught

Arizona Republicans Attempt to Ban Cultured Meat with Two Bills January 16, 2024
The bill states that foods “not derived from livestock or poultry” cannot be labelled as poultry or meat products. It suggests that this “misbranding” can be done in several ways, including affixing a false or misleading label, using a historically meat-related term, or representing a product as meat if it… Read more: Arizona Republicans Attempt to Ban Cultured Meat with Two Bills

Ambika Hiranandani: Regulatory Policies on Cell-Based Foods January 10, 2024
Ensuring the safety and efficacy of cell-based foods is paramount. Not only do we need to ensure that these foods are safe for consumption, but there’s also a need to maintain public trust. Furthermore, proper labelling is necessary to inform consumers, ensuring they understand the origins of their food and… Read more

Research

Threat or opportunity? An analysis of perceptions of cultured meat in the UK farming sector January 19, 2024
Farmers expressed complex and considered reflections on cultured meat, raising several perceived opportunities and risks associated with the themes of ‘ethics and affective’ narratives, ‘environment-based’ narratives, and ‘socio-economic’ narratives. Aspects of foci of power, food system control and transparency associated with cultured meat emerged from the conversations, as well as… Read more: Threat or opportunity? An analysis of perceptions of cultured meat in the UK farming sector

Tuning the efficacy of decellularized apple by coating with alginate/gelatin to behave as a bioscaffold for cultured meat production January 14, 2024
This current research work aims to develop and validate a new approach in fabricating a 3D porous scaffold of decellularized apple coated with a polymer mixture of gelatin/alginate for cultivated meat production. The fabricated noncoated (A) and coated (CA) 3D scaffolds presented different ratios of pore sizes with the medium-sized… Read more