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Category: Cell-Based News

  • The World’s First Cultivated Meat Farm is Now Open in the Netherlands

    cultivated meat farm
    5 Mins Read

    RespectFarms has launched a pilot farm to produce cultivated meat in the Netherlands, with Corné van Leeuwen becoming the first farmer to receive EU funding for these proteins.

    Backed by public funding from the EU and the provincial government, dairy farmer Corné van Leeuwen will now also produce cultivated meat.

    Thanks to systems integration firm RespectFarms, his dairy operation in South Holland is now equipped with a cultivated meat production unit, making it the first such farm in the world.

    With the cultivated meat units installed and operational in the coming weeks, van Leeuwen’s farm will demonstrate how livestock farmers can integrate these proteins into their existing setups, allaying fears of the technology’s impact on the farming community.

    The project is supported by the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-Agri) and the South Holland province, making van Leeuwen the first farmer globally to receive agricultural funding to grow cultivated meat.

    “We’re building a model where livestock farmers remain at the centre of food production, not replaced by factories,” said Ira van Eelen, co-founder of RespectFarms and Cellular Agriculture Netherlands. “This is an opportunity to make the protein transition fair, transparent, and rooted in rural communities.”

    Farmers must be at the centre of the cultivated meat ecosystem

    lab grown meat farm
    Courtesy: Respectfarms

    RespectFarms integrates cultivated meat and the knowledge of technology partners to develop a scalable, on-farm model for these proteins. Instead of relying on massive, centralised facilities, the startup supports a local, farm-first approach.

    This scale-out model introduces advanced agritech to farms, supporting innovation, income diversification, and locally rooted food production. It generates new knowledge and opportunities for livestock farmers and policymakers, and boosts the economic foundations of rural communities.

    “As a farmer, you have to look ahead, especially these days,” said van Leeuwen, whose farming family has always championed innovation, from using milking robots to producing artisanal cheese. “This is a chance to see whether a new income model can fit alongside what we already do. Making cultivated meat on the farm makes sense for many reasons. Not trying it would be a missed opportunity.”

    RespectFarms has previously explained that through this model, farmers would be able to produce more meat with fewer cows, which wouldn’t need to be slaughtered. It safeguards them against any disease risk to the livestock (and eventually humans who consume their meat).

    “RespectFarms boils down a world problem to farm size. And once it works, we scale this out to the world to increase impact,” said Ralf Becks, co-founder of RespectFarms.

    The project creates a real-world test centre for learning how cultivated meat production can complement livestock farming. And that has been a major sticking point for critics of the technology, with policymakers citing threats to farmers as the drivers of legislative restrictions and bans on cultivated meat.

    lab grown meat farmers
    Courtesy: Respectfarms

    In fact, farmers recognise the opportunities presented by cultivated meat and have opposed such bans, noting that they didn’t need the government’s help to compete with these proteins. Instead, they’re more worried about the social issues brought on by this technology, like Big Food controlling the market or the knock-on effects on rural communities, than the impact on their bottom lines.

    Further, consumer organisation Euroconsumers notes that small-scale on-farm cultivated meat production “can offer opportunities for farmers“, as long as we “keep things fair and make sure benefits don’t just go to a few big players”.

    Respectfarms to open experience centre to boost public engagement

    Euroconsumers also found that when it comes to ensuring the safety of cultivated meat, way more Europeans place their trust in farmers (27%) than retailers or private companies (11%), according to a Euroconsumers survey this year.

    So it’s a positive sign that public bodies are recognising this. EIP-Agri is an EU framework that connects farmers, researchers, and businesses to accelerate agricultural innovation. It funds experimental projects that enhance productivity, sustainability, and knowledge sharing.

    Meanwhile, the South Holland province contributed funds to support innovation, farmer engagement, and knowledge exchange. “This initiative demonstrates how innovation in agritech and biotech supports both our province and the Netherlands in the protein transition, while also creating economic opportunities,” said Meindert Stolk, the regional minister for economy and innovation.

    “By developing technology and knowledge locally and exporting it internationally, we strengthen our position as a leader in sustainable food production and strategic technology,” he added.

    lab grown meat farmers
    Courtesy: Respectfarms

    RespectFarms co-founder Florentine Zieglowski said the firm is “pioneering a fast way to commercialise cultivated meat – decentralised and together with agricultural, tech and supply chain partners”. These include Wageningen University & Research, cultivated meat firms Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, sustainable agriculture company Kipster, and facility design specialist Royal Kuijpers.

    Together, they’re part of the Craft (Cellular Revolution in Agriculture and Farming Technology) Consortium, which was awarded €2M in a grant co-funded by the EU-backed accelerator, EIT Food, to build the cultivated meat farm.

    Respectfarms will open an experience centre at van Leeuwen’s farm next spring, engaging with farmers, value chain stakeholders, and policymakers, while welcoming local communities and educators to witness cultivated meat production firsthand. The goal is to foster public engagement and transparency, a key tenet for greater consumer acceptance of cultivated meat.

    “People need to see what’s really happening,” said van Eelen. “It’s good to have a place where science meets farmers, citizens, and policymakers to learn, debate, and co-create the future of food production and farming.”

    The post The World’s First Cultivated Meat Farm is Now Open in the Netherlands appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Hungarian Parliament Votes to Ban Cultivated Meat, Despite EU Criticism & Legal Uncertainties

    lab grown meat hungary
    5 Mins Read

    Lawmakers in Hungary have overwhelmingly voted in favour of banning cultivated meat, even though the EU Commission has called the move “unjustified” and experts have questioned its legality.

    After nearly two years of attempts, the Hungarian government has succeeded in its attempt to stifle a food product that isn’t even on the market yet.

    In a vote on Tuesday (November 18), Hungary’s parliament voted to ban the production, distribution and marketing of cultivated meat, with 140 in favour, 10 against, and 18 abstentions. Exceptions to the ban are only applicable for medical and veterinary purposes.

    In his justification for the ban, the bill cited the need to protect “traditional rural lifestyles and human health” (as well as the environment), warning against the “potential dangers of non-traditional technologies”.

    “Food production [must] be linked to the land, as this is the basis of our traditions and culture, and if we move away from this, we will lose our identity,” agriculture minister István Nagy said a day before the vote. “The spread of meat produced in laboratory conditions would result in a lifestyle change that would completely upset European culture, which we cannot allow.”

    Hungary is the second European country to vote for a ban on cultivated meat, after Italy in 2023. Its efforts have been directly opposed by fellow EU member states, as well as the European Commission, which has said a ban would damage the free market and was “unnecessary” and “unjustified”.

    How Hungary’s ban on cultivated meat materialised

    Hungary’s path to the cultured meat ban began in January 2024, when Nagy publicly attacked the industry after meeting Ettore Prandini, president of the Italian farmers’ association Coldiretti, one of the loudest opponents of cultivated meat.

    Months later, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán weighed in on the issue in his annual state-of-the-nation speech, stating that the EU “talks nonsense” and is “dumping artificial meat and poor-quality GMO products on us”.

    In July, at the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, Hungary used its presidency to call for efforts to “protect” Europe’s culinary traditions from novel foods like cultivated meat – in other words, it sought to outlaw these proteins.

    That sparked an EU-wide debate, including widespread backlash from countries like the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Sweden. The latter, for instance, said justifying the move by calling cultivated meat harmful to human health was “unacceptable”, highlighting that Hungary hadn’t provided any risk evaluations or demonstrated that these products might threaten human or planetary health.

    One of the top criticisms is that Hungary’s ban goes against EU law. The country submitted a Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS) notification to the EU Commission (a procedure aimed at preventing barriers to the free movement of goods among member states) detailing why it was prohibiting this industry, though its explanation was rejected by the executive body and several member states.

    Still, in March this year, Hungary’s deputy prime minister, Zsolt Semjén, submitted a bill to the parliament to attempt to ban cultivated meat, which policymakers voted to adopt yesterday.

    “Our country has examined the issue of cultured meat from all sides and has also subjected the regulation to the necessary EU procedures. Our position has not changed, even after these procedures were concluded, and the strictest possible regulation is needed,” said Nagy.

    “We only allow its use for medical and veterinary purposes, and in all other cases, we strictly prohibit the production and distribution of cultured meat in our country.”

    Hungary’s ban goes against consumers’ wishes

    lab grown meat ban
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    “It is undeniable that traditional food production has a positive impact on agriculture and rural living conditions as a whole,” Semjén writes in the bill, which is now awaiting a final signature from the president (who has five days to do so).

    “Technologies and production methods that differ from traditional ones contain potential dangers that threaten our fundamental values. We do not yet have a satisfactory answer to these challenges,” the text adds. “The presumed negative effects justify a general ban on the production and marketing of laboratory-grown meat.”

    Along similar lines, Nagy added: “The national government is committed to food production linked to the farmland and strengthening the countryside. Some people have become distant from nature, and a false romanticism is developing regarding wildlife. The majority of society must understand that without farmers, there is no food and no future. Artificial meat is a fabrication, and we insist on our culture.”

    Cultivated meat has been proven to be better for the planet (especially when produced via renewable energy), in addition to supporting animal welfare and, in the longer term, food security. Even farmers are embracing the technology, so to ban it on “presumed negative effects” is befuddling.

    Cultural protectionism has been cited as a justification for the ban in Italy, too. At the same time, the safeguarding of livestock producers is the bedrock of the seven state-level bans on cultivated meat in the US. Still, these farmers welcome the competition and have spoken out against placing restrictions on cultured meat.

    lab grown meat survey
    Courtesy: GFI Europe

    That sentiment isn’t just confined to the farmers. Most European consumers are also against banning cultivated meat, including over 60% of Hungarians. In fact, around 55% of the latter group support the sale of these proteins if they pass safety assessments from food regulators.

    So far, only two companies have filed to sell cultivated meat for human food in the EU: Parima (for cultivated duck) and Mosa Meat (beef fat). Since they’re at least a year away from entering the market, prohibitive decisions like Hungary’s are unnecessary, according to the EU Commission

    “A ban is therefore unjustified, since it could pre-empt the harmonised authorisation procedure for novel foods at EU level, which includes a scientific assessment by EFSA,” it said last year.

    The post Hungarian Parliament Votes to Ban Cultivated Meat, Despite EU Criticism & Legal Uncertainties appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Sweden’s Re:meat Rebrands to Curve to Enable Low-Cost, Large-Scale Biomanufacturing

    4 Mins Read

    Swedish food tech startup Re:meat has evolved from a cultivated meat producer to a sustainable protein biomanufacturer, now called Curve.

    Two months after signing a deal to establish Scandinavia’s first cultivated meat facility, Re:meat is expanding its cellular agriculture platform to enable cost-efficient manufacturing of novel proteins.

    The company has announced a strategic rebrand to Curve, shifting focus away from producing its own ingredients and opening up its production platform to help other sustainable food manufacturers speed up their processes and path to market.

    The pivot came from what we learned firsthand: the real bottleneck in biomanufacturing isn’t scientific — it’s technical and economic scalability. We realised our greatest impact wouldn’t come from producing a single end-product, but from enabling many companies to scale their own,” co-founder and CEO Jacob Schaldemose Peterson told Green Queen.

    “Curve exists to provide the infrastructure – the production systems and process intelligence – that make scalable biomanufacturing possible.”

    How Curve overcomes scale and cost challenges

    curve bio
    Courtesy: Curve

    Peterson founded Curve with Gittan Schiöld in 2022, producing cultivated meat by growing immortalised cells of free-range livestock in bioreactors. Its process currently takes three weeks, with an initial focus on minced meat.

    The company claims its patented core technology radically lowers the cost of hardware for cultivated meat, an important step towards scaling cultivated proteins and enabling mass adoption. Curve says proteins are the foundation of future nutrition and healthcare, and today’s production systems weren’t built for these new markets.

    That’s because they’re resource-heavy, slow to scale, and economically misaligned. Instead, the next era of biotech requires tech that can produce complex proteins at industrial scale, with minimal cost and climate impact.

    Analysis suggests that the cultivated meat industry has lowered production costs by 99% in a decade. However, it’ll still take until at least 2030 for these proteins to begin approaching price parity with conventional meat.

    Many cellular agriculture startups are still reliant on the bioreactors of the pharmaceutical industry. However, these are not purpose-built for the lower-margin cultivated meat sector, and hence are much more expensive.

    “Traditional bioreactors were designed for pharma, where cost per unit isn’t the main driver. We’ve re-engineered the system from the ground up for industrial biotech — optimising fluid dynamics, control systems, and material use,” explained Peterson.

    Curve is looking to usher in smarter biomanufacturing practices, having developed modular production systems that “close the gap between basic food-grade fermenters and costly pharma-grade setups”. It has developed an alternative to the controversial and expensive fetal bovine serum, which makes up a big chunk of production costs.

    This is an approach used by a growing number of food tech firms, including cultured pork producer Mission Barns, cultivated pet food startup Meatly, and AI-led biotech firm Arsenale Bioyards.

    Curve’s platform can reduce costs by 70%

    lab grown meat expensive
    Courtesy: Curve

    Curve’s core Biobric platform combines physical hardware with data simulations to enable optimised conditions, strain learning, and automated process refinement. It’s designed for “cost leadership”, reducing capital and operational expenditure by up to 70%, accelerating process optimisation, and enabling commercially viable precision fermentation and cultivated meat.

    “Cost-efficient cultivated meat production has always been the ambition for Re:meat,” said Torbjörn Sahlén, an investor and board member at Curve. “However, experience shows that if we focus exclusively on that, we are not maximising our ability to scale and leave significant potential untapped. This shift – and consequently the name Curve – reflects this strategic opportunity.”

    The refreshed entity is working closely with precision fermentation and biotech companies to jointly run scale-up trials and optimise strains, media and processes before licensing validated systems to industrial producers. It marks a shift from a single vertical into a multi-category protein platform.

    The company secured $1.1M in funding earlier this year, and in September, it teamed up with Biotech Heights, a biotech innovation in Lund, to launch the region’s first cultivated meat facility. The pilot plant, titled Re:meatery at the time, will be installed by the end of 2025 and validated with partners and clients in spring 2026.

    “The pilot facility is progressing well,” said Peterson. “Here, we will validate systems and run joint upscaling trials with partners. While it’s no longer branded ‘Re:meatery’, it continues to play a key role in scaling and validating our technology before full industrial rollout.”

    Curve’s systems are designed to meet food-grade standards and are aligned with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards to simplify regulatory pathways for its clients, whose responsibility it will be to seek regulatory approval for end products.

    Peterson said the B2B model isn’t the only way to success for cultivated meat, but it’s “probably the most scalable path” for now. “The economics and infrastructure challenges of biomanufacturing are simply too great for most ingredient brands to solve alone,” he said.

    “By building shared tools and production systems, B2B models accelerate the entire field. Once the underlying technology and cost base are established, B2C innovation can flourish on top.”

    The post Sweden’s Re:meat Rebrands to Curve to Enable Low-Cost, Large-Scale Biomanufacturing appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Can Cultivated Marine Supplements Plug the Alt-Seafood Nutrition Gap?

    vegan omega 3 supplements
    5 Mins Read

    Singaporean food tech startup Umami Bioworks has launched a line of cell-cultured marine supplements to address nutritional deficiencies in non-seafood consumers.

    Despite consumer concerns about overfishing and the environmental implications of conventional seafood, fish-free alternatives still make up just 1% of this industry.

    Nutrition is a major reason. Vegan and vegetarian seafood analogues tend to have a lower protein, vitamin B12, and omega-3 content, and experts have called for a diversification of sources and greater micronutrient fortification to truly build consumer uptake.

    For instance, most seafood alternatives that contain omega-3 fatty acids source them from alpha-linolenic acid, which converts poorly into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

    vegan seafood omega 3
    Courtesy: ProVeg International

    “To better replicate the nutritional profile of seafood, plant-based alternatives should consider the inclusion of EPA and DHA – for example, by using algae oil as a direct source,” food awareness organisation ProVeg International suggested in a recent nutrition report.

    One company is presenting cellular agriculture as a solution. Singapore-based Umami Bioworks, best known for its cultivated seafood innovations, recently diversified into a wider range of marine ingredients for food, supplements and cosmetics.

    Now, it has launched a range of cultivated marine supplements specifically for consumers who don’t consume conventional seafood, including vegans and vegetarians lacking in certain important nutrients.

    An AI platform that creates cultivated marine ingredients

    As Umami Bioworks notes, vegetarians are prone to deficiencies in nutrients naturally abundant in seafood, like vitamins B12 and D, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, and iodine. These are essential for brain health, energy and immunity, but are often missing or poorly absorbed from plant-based sources.

    Vitamin B12, for example, is mostly produced by marine bacteria, while iron from lentils or spinach is absorbed five times less efficiently than from shellfish. And vitamin D and iodine are naturally concentrated in marine species rather than in soil-grown crops.

    To plug this gap, the startup has used its AI-led Alkemyst platform to cultivate marine cells that naturally produce the same bioactive compounds found in fish, including pure omega-3s, collagen peptides, selenium, and B12.

    umami bioworks
    Courtesy: Umami Bioworks

    Alkemyst uses machine learning, computational biology, and digital twin technology to deliver a faster, more precise R&D approach to growing and optimising the production of any marine species via cellular agriculture. The platform analyses data, identifies patterns and optimises R&D and scale-up parameters across areas like cell line selection, media development, and process controls.

    The digital twin tech allows it to simulate and predict outcomes, reducing the amount of screening and scale-up experiments needed and thus saving both time and resources. Plus, it enables Umami Bioworks to transfer learnings from one species to another, improving the efficiency with which it can develop new products.

    Cell-cultured ingredients aren’t vegan, raising questions about labelling

    Umami Bioworks’s initial programmes focus on eel, salmon and tuna, all renowned for their high concentrations of taurine and selenium, elevated DHA/EPA ratios, and collagen-rich matrices.

    “We cultivate marine cells that naturally produce key nutrients. These are refined across our pilot facilities in Singapore and Malaysia, then provided to partners in ingredient formats that can be incorporated into supplements and wellness products,” Gayathri Mani, a product manager at the startup, tells Green Queen.

    “Vegetarians and plant-forward consumers shouldn’t have to compromise their health,” says fellow product manager Mehaa Bajaj. “We’ve built a platform that recreates the ocean’s most powerful nutrients without relying on the ocean. This is how the plant-based generation gets the benefits of seafood, sustainably.”

    marine supplements
    Courtesy: Umami Bioworks

    It is worth noting that such cultivated products aren’t considered vegan yet, since current processes involve culturing cells derived from animals. It would be interesting to see how these supplements will be labelled, and whether this deters vegans or vegetarians from consuming them.

    “We are actively engaging with certification bodies and industry groups to support clearer frameworks for cell-cultivated marine ingredients, and we will continue educating consumers on how these ingredients are produced and why they matter,” says Mani.

    “Our aim is to make the sourcing and sustainability story transparent, so individuals can make informed choices aligned with their health goals and values.”

    Umami Bioworks targets 2026 launch of cultivated supplements and seafood

    Aside from catering to non-seafood consumers, these supplements also address the environmental impact of producing conventional marine ingredients. Nearly 90% of global fish stocks are at maximum capacity or overfished. One study suggests that we could be heading towards a complete collapse of ocean life by 2048, driven primarily by overfishing.

    By producing ingredients in bioreactors instead, Umami Bioworks is lightening the load on the ocean and its species, and lowering the industry’s impact on the planet. It is now in “advanced stages of commercialisation” with partners globally, aiming to launch its first products with major brands in 2026.

    “We are collaborating with select global brands in supplements, nutrition, and functional wellness,” says Mani. “The initial product lines focus on collagen peptide complexes, marine fatty acid ingredients, PDRN, and peptides relevant to metabolic support, with formulations shaped jointly to meet brand and market needs.”

    She adds: “The exact product forms and concentrations are co-developed with each partner, depending on their target consumer and regulatory pathway.”

    lab grown seafood
    Courtesy: Umami Bioworks

    The firm has already launched Marine Radiance, a line of cell-cultured marine bioactives, starting with PDRN, a regenerative compound traditionally extracted from salmon sperm that has gained popularity in the skincare world due to its prominence in K-beauty. Further, it has partnered with Tokyo-based IntegriCulture to co-create beauty and skincare products using the Marine Radiance line.

    Umami Bioworks is also working with James Cook University to advance research in allergen-free cultivated seafood, and recently announced plans to build a $10M production facility in Japan by 2027.

    And in July, it registered two cultivated whitefish ingredients with the EU Feed Materials Register, allowing it to sell them for pet food applications in the region. It’s targeting a Q2 2026 launch, while awaiting approval for human food use in Singapore.

    The post Can Cultivated Marine Supplements Plug the Alt-Seafood Nutrition Gap? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Singapore Scraps ’30 By 30′ Policy, Brushes Aside Cultivated Meat in New Food Security Plan

    lab grown meat study
    4 Mins Read

    Singapore has replaced its ’30 by 30′ food sovereignty plan with one that sharpens focus on specific food categories; notably, cultivated meat isn’t part of the new strategy.

    Six years after announcing a strategy to lower its reliance on food imports, Singapore is overhauling its approach.

    The city-state procures over 90% of its food from other countries, and only 1% of its land is set aside for agriculture, making it vulnerable to supply shocks and climate change. In its bid to boost self-sufficiency, its government launched the ’30 by 30′ policy in 2019, aiming to produce 30% of its food locally by the end of this decade.

    Now, however, Singapore is scrapping that plan in favour of a new four-pronged strategy that targets local production of protein and fibre, import diversification, stockpiling, and global partnerships.

    “We are now ready for the next chapter of our food security plan: the Singapore Food Story 2,” environment minister Grace Fu said on the opening day of the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit. “It replaces ’30 by 39, which is an aspiration only for local production.”

    She added: “We can complement local production with other food strategies to achieve food resilience. We have reassessed our needs, our resources, and our capabilities. And with these considerations, we are expanding our portfolio of strategies.”

    Why ’30 by 30′ didn’t work

    hybrid meat
    Courtesy: Ants Innovate

    Explaining the decision to move away from the ’30 by 30′ framework, Fu said the government knew it would be a “challenging aspiration” from the start, citing Singapore’s “small and undeveloped agri-food sector, our limited land resources and high operating cost environment”.

    “Since then, we have had to deal with the impact of supply disruptions caused by border closures due to Covid-19, export bans by some countries and animal diseases,” she explained.

    “Our local agri-food sector, like their peers in other countries, has faced headwinds – supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures on energy and manpower costs, and a tougher financing environment. This has led to delays in farm development and some exits, even as we witnessed new start-ups,” added Fu.

    And despite Singapore’s reputation as a global food tech hub, the challenges that have plagued categories like plant-based proteins and cultivated meat also played a part. “The alternative protein industry has faced hurdles in scaling up due to higher production costs and weaker-than-expected consumer acceptance globally,” said Fu.

    Four companies are already approved to sell cultivated meat in the city-state, whether for human use or pet food, and it remains an attractive location for players in the space to enter the market. The aforementioned challenges mean these proteins are not part of the national food security strategy in the short term, according to the Singapore Food Agency.

    “In the longer term, if and when alternative proteins become more competitive and mainstream globally, it can potentially contribute to our food security,” the regulator told the Straits Times. “In the meantime, we will press on with efforts in R&D and industry development for this sector.”

    That said, the SFA has committed S$42M ($32M) to 11 future food projects, four of which are focused on solutions to strengthen the nutrition and functionality of alternative proteins. Additional financing has been awarded to the Centre for Precision Fermentation and Sustainability to translate research outputs into market-ready solutions.

    Singapore exploring multi-tenanted production facility

    nurasa ftic
    Courtesy: Nurasa

    “Drawing from our experience over the past five years, we have reassessed our local production strategy to be more targeted,” said Fu.

    Under the Food Story 2 strategy, Singapore is aiming to have 20% of fibre and 30% of protein consumption supplied locally by 2035. The fibre category includes fresh leafy and fruited vegetables, beansprouts and mushrooms; the proteins refer to eggs and seafood. For context, only 8% of fibre intake was produced domestically last year, rising to 26% for protein.

    To help reach this goal, the government will help its farms manage production costs. “Our farms face rising operating costs. While we cannot control energy costs and global inflation, we can help our farms lower production costs by taking the following steps,” said Fu.

    Singapore is now studying the feasibility of developing a multi-tenanted agrifood production facility, which could offer farms plug-and-play spaces, common utilities and shared services, and an indoor production facility with controlled environments.

    In addition, the city-state will invest in R&D and fund farms to build capacity. “Technology and innovation are enablers that boost farm productivity, build resilience and be future-ready,” Fu noted.

    “Given climate change and geopolitical developments, countries are increasingly vulnerable to global shocks and disruptions in our food supply. In recent years, we have seen how a single event could send ripple effects through the global market, disrupting the supply of food on our tables,” she explained.

    “The Russia-Ukraine conflict showed this clearly. It is happening miles away from Singapore. Yet, by disrupting the global supply of fertilisers and animal feed, the conflict indirectly triggered export restrictions on food items in Singapore.”

    She added that building up local production under the original ’30 by 30′ policy was necessary to provide an assured and regenerative source of food during supply disruptions, indicating that the new strategy builds on that: “Together with other pillars of our food strategy, it gives us more options and flexibility in times of need.”

    The post Singapore Scraps ’30 By 30′ Policy, Brushes Aside Cultivated Meat in New Food Security Plan appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Atlantic Fish Co Nets $1.2M to Advance Regulatory Efforts for Cultivated Seafood

    atlantic fish co
    4 Mins Read

    US food tech startup Atlantic Fish Co has raised $1.2M in new funding, which it will use to optimise its cultivated seafood fillets, scope out partnerships, and prepare regulatory filings.

    In its bid to “actually move the needle” in the $400B global seafood market, Atlantic Fish Co has attracted fresh funding for its high-value cultivated white fish.

    The North Carolina-based startup has secured seed investment from Katapult Ocean, Alwyn Capital, DMV Capital, and the Georgetown Angel Investment Network (among others). In addition, it has received $305,000 as part of a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation.

    Combined, the company has hooked $1.2M in financing for this round, taking its total raised to $2.3M to date. It will use the capital to make progress on technical, regulatory and commercialisation efforts.

    “This $1.2M enables us to finalise our go-to-market product and secure the regulatory greenlights to launch in the US,” said co-founder and CEO Doug Grant.

    ‘We can’t make more ocean’

    lab grown seafood
    Courtesy: Atlantic Fish Co

    Founded in 2022 by Grant and CSO Trevor Ham, Atlantic Fish Co’s cell culture platform works across any species, having demonstrated the technology with both seafood and terrestrial proteins. But its initial focus is on high-value whitefish, specifically black sea bass.

    The startup takes a small sample from fish muscles and selects the healthier cells. These are then fed on the same food-grade nutrients they’d receive inside fish, enabling them to grow into lean muscle in a bioreactor.

    Atlantic Fish Co’s end products are “restaurant-quality” fillets that do away with the harmful contaminants found in conventional seafood, like mercury, microplastics, antibiotics or parasites.

    The firm first developed a black sea bass prototype in partnership with the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab last year, hosting a tasting event at the latter’s facility in Kannapolis.

    The product is targeting an overstretched seafood industry – nearly 90% of global fish stocks are at maximum capacity or overfished. One study suggests that we could be heading towards a complete collapse of ocean life by 2048, driven primarily by overfishing. Climate change is worsening things, pushing fish to the high seas where they’re likely to be overexploited, causing diseases, and driving up prices.

    “We’re solving a huge problem. Seafood is under real pressure,” said Grant. “We can make a lot of things, but we can’t make more ocean.”

    And consumers recognise this. A 2024 survey by the Marine Stewardship Council found that 30% of people had been eating less seafood in the last two years, with 48% concerned about overfishing and 35% worried about climate change impacts. Over 80%, meanwhile, had changed their dietary habits in this period, and 43% did so for sustainability reasons.

    Atlantic Fish Co preps FDA submission and chef collaborations

    cultivated seafood
    Courtesy: Atlantic Fish Co

    Sam Selig, investment manager at Katapult Ocean, said his firm was impressed by Atlantic Fish Co’s technical milestones and its advancements of a “breakthrough technology in cultivated protein”.

    “Supporting the initial commercialisation of their sustainable white fish filet – and their broader vision to expand across proteins – aligns perfectly with our mission to back ocean- and health-friendly blue foods with meaningful market opportunity and impact,” he remarked.

    The $1.2M round may seem small at first, but given the trials of the cultivated protein sector, it’s a notable achievement. Startups in this space have seen investment fall off a cliff in recent years, down from $1.3B in 2021 to just $139M in 2024 (and a mere $36M so far this year).

    “The cultivated meat sector has learned expensive lessons, and there are still only a handful of products on the market,” said Grant. “We’ve stayed capital-efficient with disciplined milestones and focused on seafood, the category best positioned to break through.”

    Atlantic Fish Co will use the funds to optimise its whitefish fillets and refine their texture, flavour and nutritional profile, prepare for its regulatory submissions (including pre-market consultation with the US Food and Drug Administration), and establish partnerships with chefs to validate product market fit and open up initial distribution channels.

    Despite fish innovations accounting for a fraction of the overall alternative protein market, it has been a milestone year for cultivated seafood. In the US, Wildtype received the green light to sell its salmon, which is now available on restaurant menus in several states. Meanwhile, BlueNalu filed for FDA approval for its bluefin tuna, while also eyeing the European market.

    Speaking of which, Germany’s Bluu Seafood teamed up with spice manufacturer Van Hees to create hybrid proteins combining cultured fish cells with plant-based ingredients. And in India, Biokraft Foods debuted cultivated seafood prototypes in collaboration with a government-based research institute.

    The post Atlantic Fish Co Nets $1.2M to Advance Regulatory Efforts for Cultivated Seafood appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Exclusive: Hoxton Farms Files for Singapore Approval of Cultivated Pork Fat

    hoxton farms
    6 Mins Read

    British cultivated meat startup Hoxton Farms has submitted a regulatory dossier to the Singapore Food Agency, with filings in the UK, North America and other Asian countries to follow soon.

    Amid a wave of regulatory successes for cultivated meat, UK startup Hoxton Farms is getting in on the act with an application in Singapore, the first of several submissions planned globally.

    The London-based food tech firm filed a dossier for its cultivated pork fat with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), which has already doled out approvals to three startups in the space. It expects to receive the green light between late 2026 to early 2027.

    Hoxton Farms’s submission was overseen by CSO Vitor Espírito Santo, who played a key role in helping Eat Just’s Good Meat division achieve the industry’s first regulatory approval back in 2020, also from the SFA.

    “The SFA remains a world leader in regulation for cultivated products. While the team has evolved, their commitment to safety, transparency and collaboration hasn’t changed,” co-founder and CEO Max Jamilly tells Green Queen when asked about how the regulatory landscape has evolved in the five years since.

    “We also benefit from clearer guidance and more precedent today, which makes the process more predictable and improves our chances of success,” he tells Green Queen.

    Jamilly first teased the Singapore filing in an interview with this publication earlier this year, when Hoxton Farms set its stall out in Asia through manufacturing and commercialisation partnerships with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsui Chemicals.

    Hoxton Farms to build commercial-scale cultivated meat facility

    lab grown pork
    A mortadella prototype using Hoxton Farms’s cultivated fat | Courtesy: Hoxton Farms

    Founded in 2020 by Jamilly and COO Ed Steele, Hoxton Farms leverages cell biology and machine learning to grow fat from pig cells in modular bioreactors. The ingredient is a drop-in replacement for animal fats and plant-based oils, and can be mixed with plant proteins to create products like soups, sauces, and hybrid pork.

    “We start with stem cells from a pig, specifically mesenchymal stem cells, grow them in proprietary cell culture media (made of proteins, vitamins and sugars, much like you would feed a conventional pig), and differentiate them into real pork fat, or adipocytes,” explains Jamilly.

    “Not only are we making real fat tissue – not biomass – but our proprietary cell lines, optimised bioprocess and patented bioreactors are all designed for cost efficiency and scale. Using AI to fine-tune growth and differentiation, we can produce delicious, high-quality fat at low cost – real animal fat made for food manufacturing.”

    That said, Jamilly notes that its current costs are high due to limited scale. “But our technology is designed to bring these costs down rapidly. At industrial volumes, our process and reactor design allow us to reach a cost in use competitive with conventional pork fat while maintaining excellent quality, so food manufacturers can make delicious products,” he highlights.

    Hoxton Farms currently operates a 14,000 sq ft pilot facility in London, running 500-litre bioreactors. “Our next facility, in the 10kL range, will be built next year and commissioned in early 2027,” the CEO reveals. “This expansion will enable us to move from pilot to early commercial scale and meet the huge demand we have from major food manufacturers.”

    Cultivated fat more efficient to grow than muscle

    hoxton farms company
    Tonkotsu ramen with Hoxton Farms’s cultivated fat | Courtesy: Hoxton Farms

    Hoxton Farms is one of several companies spotlighting fat as a more viable way to bring cultivated meat to market. This includes Mission Barns (which has begun selling its hybrid pork products in the US), Mosa Meat (which is seeking approval for beef fat in multiple markets), Steakholder Foods, and Genuine Taste.

    So why the focus on fat? “First, fat is what makes food taste delicious. A small amount of fat can be transformative to any dish – it’s a low inclusion, high-impact ingredient,” says Jamilly. “Second, and we know this as humans, fat is easier and faster to grow than muscle.

    “Most importantly, demand for meat (and the fat that makes it taste amazing) is growing, prices are increasing, and there’s more and more uncertainty with tariffs and climate change.”

    Speaking of which, pig farming is a highly emissive industry that requires excessive amounts of water and land. And plant-based hard fats like coconut or palm oil – preferred by many manufacturers for their functionality – are the primary drivers of tropical deforestation.

    “Cultivated fat delivers taste, nutrition and performance, while reducing dependence on volatile animal and commodity oil markets,” says Jamilly. “Even at low inclusion rates, Hoxton Fat transforms flavour, juiciness and cooking performance.”

    He adds: “Our model is fully B2B. We supply cultivated fat as an ingredient to food manufacturers – primarily processed meat producers looking for healthier, scalable, more reliable and sustainable fats, and to plant-based brands seeking authentic taste and performance.”

    Hoxton Farms lays out global regulatory and funding plans

    lab grown meat approved
    Graphic by Green Queen

    Hoxton Farms chose to begin its regulatory journey in Singapore thanks to its reputation as a food tech powerhouse. The startup suggests the city-state has set a global benchmark for science-based food regulation, citing its “forward-thinking, collaborative regulatory environment” and “transparent and supportive framework”

    When it comes to cell-cultured proteins, the SFA has so far greenlit Good Meat’s chicken, Vow’s quail, and Parima’s chicken for use in human food. Moreover, the Singapore Animal & Veterinary Service has approved Friends & Family Pet Food Co‘s Kampung bird products for pet food applications.

    Hoxton Farms’s Singapore application is a precursor to regulatory filings in a whole host of regions over the coming months, with Asia-Pacific a central focus. “Japan is firmly on the radar, along with a small number of other Asian markets, such as Thailand, South Korea, and Hong Kong, where regulators are taking proactive, science-driven approaches,” says Jamilly.

    “Our partnerships with Sumitomo Corporation and with Mitsui Chemicals give us an ideal foundation to explore these opportunities as we scale production and commercial readiness across the region,” he adds.

    In addition, the company is part of the cultivated meat regulatory sandbox launched by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) this year, which aims to help companies get approval and enter the market faster.

    hoxton farms funding
    A pork belly prototype using Hoxton Farms’s cultivated fat | Courtesy: Hoxton Farms

    “The sandbox has been enormously helpful. It’s a genuinely constructive initiative from the UK government that’s helping shape regulation suited to cell-cultivated products,” Jamilly says. “The recent tasting guidelines and pre-submission advice reflect real feedback from companies like ours, showing that the UK is becoming one of the next great leaders in food tech and biomanufacturing.”

    Hoxton Farms will submit its dossier to the FSA later this year. “Our launch will be B2B, supplying cultivated fat as an ingredient to manufacturers, though we may partner with chefs and restaurants for initial showcase events,” he outlines.

    To date, his firm has raised $35M, and it’s planning a new funding round in early 2026. Investors’ appetite for cultivated meat has receded rapidly, with capital flows down from $1.3B in 2021 to just $139M in 2024 (and a mere $36M so far this year).

    Still, Jamilly remains confident. “We’ve built proprietary technology, a de-risked regulatory path and a clear route to profitability at scale,” he says. “With low-cost reactors, efficient processes and a strong AI-driven manufacturing platform, we’re confident in both our position and our ability to attract new investment.”

    The post Exclusive: Hoxton Farms Files for Singapore Approval of Cultivated Pork Fat appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Believer Meats Secures USDA Approval to Begin Sales of Cultivated Chicken

    believer meats usda approval
    4 Mins Read

    Israel’s Believer Meats has received official clearance from the USDA to produce and sell its cultivated chicken in the country, becoming the first non-US startup to reach the milestone.

    Months after receiving a ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Believer Meats has now completed the regulatory path for its cultivated chicken with approval from the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

    The firm has received the latter’s green light for its product label and factory in North Carolina, which was completed earlier this year and is the world’s largest cultivated meat facility.

    In a post on LinkedIn, CEO Gustavo Burger called it “a major milestone that authorises us to begin commercial production and sales of our cultivated chicken products in the US and export to international markets”.

    Formerly called Future Meat Technologies, Believer Meats is the third startup to be cleared to sell cultivated meat in the US this year, following the regulatory success of Wildtype and Mission Barns. It’s also the first overseas company to accomplish the feat in the country.

    Burger did not respond to Green Queen’s queries about Believer Meats’s launch plans.

    How Believer Meats produces its cultivated chicken

    believer meats chicken
    Courtesy: Believer Meats

    Founded in 2018 by Yaakov Nahmias, a biomedical engineering professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Believer Meats employs centrifuge-based perfusion and a cell media rejuvenation process to produce its cultivated meat.

    The startup uses spontaneously immortalised fibroblast cells from fertilised eggs of domestic chickens. The cell lines are adapted to grow in suspension culture and serum-free media, and are stored in cell banks. These cells are then seeded into bioreactors and expanded until a sufficient volume of cultured chicken mass is produced.

    The cells are filtered out from the media and washed in a sodium chloride solution. The harvested material is described as cultured chicken fibroblasts, which are similar in composition and nutritional characteristics to conventional chicken.

    Last year, it demonstrated how tangential flow filtration (TFF), an efficient way to separate and purify biomolecules, can be an effective method for the continuous manufacturing of cultivated meat. It also introduced an animal-free culture medium that cost just $0.63 per litre, further allowing the startup to lower production costs.

    Inspired by how Ford’s automated assembly line transformed the auto industry in the early 20th century, its new bioreactor assembly method allowed biomass expansion of 130 billion cells per litre, with a yield of 43% weight per volume. This process of cultivating the chicken cells was carried out continuously for over 20 days, leading to daily harvests of the biomass.

    Believer Meats’s technology can optimise cell performance and save water, nutrients, and resources, allowing it to reduce production costs by eliminating byproducts and enabling the reuse of media. The resulting cultivated mass can be mixed with plant-based ingredients to be extruded into finished food products, like chicken breast.

    The company claims its tech breakthroughs can bring the cost of cultivated chicken down to $6.20 per lb on a 50,000-litre scale, in line with the retail price of conventional USDA organic chicken.

    Despite the bans, five companies can now sell cultivated meat in the US

    believer meats wilson nc
    Courtesy: Believer Meats

    Fuelled by a $123M investment, Believer Meats’s 200,000 sq ft plant is located in Wilson County, North Carolina. It features an innovation centre and tasting kitchen, and will be able to churn out 12,000 tonnes of cultivated chicken every year.

    “We are the first and only large-scale cultivated meat facility to have earned this approval from USDA. This achievement is a testament to the dedication, innovation, and integrity of our entire team,” said Burger.

    In the US, cultivated protein products (excluding seafood) are jointly regulated by the FDA and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The former oversees cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth and differentiation, before handing over to the latter during the harvesting stage. FSIS also inspects the further production and labelling of these products.

    “With both FDA and USDA regulatory milestones behind us, we are one step closer to bringing cultivated meat to consumers around the world and to advancing our vision to lead food innovations that care for the planet,” noted Burger.

    lab grown meat approved
    Graphic by Green Queen

    Believer Meats is the fifth company to be allowed to sell cultivated meat in the US, joining Upside Foods, Eat Just (both approved for chicken), Wildtype (salmon), and Mission Barns (pork).

    The cultivated meat industry may have struggled to attract investors lately and had to contend with bans in seven US states, but on a regulatory front, it has been a watershed year. Globally, eight startups have received some form of approval for their products in 2025.

    Vow has been selling its cultured quail products in Australia after securing the green light in June. And this week, Parima announced it had earned the go-ahead from the Singapore Food Agency for its Vital Meat chicken.

    Also in Singapore, Friends & Family Pet Food Co got the nod for its cat and dog treats. And in the EU, Biocraft Pet Nutrition and Umami Bioworks registered their cultivated meat innovations as feed materials, which can now be sold as pet food ingredients.

    The post Believer Meats Secures USDA Approval to Begin Sales of Cultivated Chicken appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Exclusive: Fork & Good Acquires Orbillion to Take Cultivated Red Meat Platform Global

    fork and good
    7 Mins Read

    US startup Fork & Good has acquired fellow cultivated meat producer Orbillion Bio to combine their global operations and fast-track the launch of their proteins.

    Waiting a decade to find supply chain solutions to meat shortages and price hikes isn’t an option. We need immediate fixes that can make our protein systems resilient to climate shocks and trade disputes.

    That’s the thesis that convinced New Jersey-based startup Fork & Good to snap up California’s Orbillion Bio, marrying their B2B platforms to produce cultivated red meat and taking their merged operations to four crucial regions across the world.

    “We’re already working with customers in North America and East Asia, and are excited to bring Orbillion’s relationships in Europe and the Middle East online,” says Niya Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Fork & Good. The latter two regions have been working to advance their novel food regulation, so this is timely.

    “This consolidation brings together technical and commercial expertise from both companies in one location to accelerate production,” Orbillion founder and CEO Patricia Bubner, who is now Fork & Good’s co-founder and COO, tells Green Queen.

    “The teams have been integrated at Fork & Good’s headquarters in Jersey City, which houses a pilot plant capable of producing several tonnes of cultivated meat per year,” she explains. “The combined company also maintains a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, supporting growth in the Middle East and beyond.”

    Asked why the two firms decided to join forces, she says: “Both companies share a B2B focus, proven customer traction, and complementary technology platforms, product focus and markets. This combination immediately expands both companies’ product range and global reach while uniting industry-seasoned talent to deliver on existing contracts.”

    Fork & Good boasts ‘most comprehensive’ IP in cultivated meat

    lab grown pork
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    Gupta founded Fork & Good with Gabor and Andras Forgacs, co-founders of cellular agriculture firm Modern Meadow, in 2018. The startup produces cultivated pork using a patented integrated cell manufacturing platform, which lets it grow a large number of cells in a cost-effective manner.

    Its pilot facility can produce about seven tonnes of product in less than 800 sq ft of space. As it scales up, Fork & Good is targeting a cost of $5 per lb of biomass at commercial levels, eventually bringing it to parity with commodity pork at $2 per lb. And last year, it became the first startup to host a public tasting for cultivated meat in Europe, serving dumplings with 30% cultured pork in Davos.

    Orbillion, meanwhile, has developed an algorithm that can transform 2D culture into 3D culture in record time and at low costs. It has completed a 200-litre production run for its cultivated Wagyu beef, and teamed up with Dutch premium meat manufacturer Luiten Food, opening up access to its 1,200 distribution points.

    “Orbillion has successfully scaled beef, and Fork & Good has developed highly efficient pork cell lines. The two platforms are compatible,” says Bubner. “Both centre on producing mammalian muscle cells – the core of what makes meat ‘meat’ – and the main source of its protein. This differentiates [us] from other companies in the space that use fat cells, fibroblasts or undifferentiated stem cells.”

    According to Fork & Good, the entity now has the biggest IP portfolio in cultivated meat. “Fork & Good was founded on and expanded the foundational IP developed by Modern Meadow, the first cultivated meat company, adding multiple new patent families covering its own innovations,” notes Gabor Forgacs.

    “With Orbillion’s complementary portfolio, the combined company now holds the most comprehensive and defensible IP in cultivated meat (i.e., the greatest number of issued patents), covering core production methods, cell lines, and bioprocess technologies essential for scalable manufacturing.”

    Meat producers look to cultivated meat amid supply shocks

    orbillion bio
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    The meat industry is at an inflexion point. Its impact on the planet – already outsized – is only deepening as demand rises, but the climate crisis it’s helping fuel is wreaking havoc on livestock systems.

    Meat prices reached an all-time high in July, becoming the primary driver of worldwide food inflation. It came as cattle numbers fell to their lowest in 70 years in the US, and high grain prices and rising interest rates raised beef production costs. The pork industry itself has taken several hits due to repeated cases of African swine fever – in 2018-19 alone, it wiped out a quarter of the global hog population.

    Red meat relies on multi-year livestock lead times, so keeping up with rising demand is only getting harder. Cultivated meat can cut the production periods to weeks. USDA data shows that four countries are responsible for 70% of the world’s pork imports and 40% of beef imports – China, Japan, South Korea and Mexico – and it Fork & Good has operations in each of them.

    “We work exclusively in B2B, partnering with food manufacturers and meat companies to address their key needs: value‑added ingredients, supply chain stability, and local production,” says Gupta.

    “Our ingredients enhance clean‑label, nutritious, and functional properties in a variety of ground red meat products like burgers, sausages, and dumplings, replacing multiple ingredients with a single one. By producing locally, we provide a reliable supply and reduce dependency on traditional meat sources.

    “Our approach also enables cost-competitive solutions, helping partners compete today and in the future by delivering scalable, high-quality ingredients that create tangible value in their products and supply chains.”

    This is why the company has signed offtakes and paid development agreements with leading producers like Luiten Food, Sigma Alimentos, and several undisclosed “multibillion-dollar food companies”. Fork & Good itself earned its first revenue earlier this year, courtesy of a joint development agreement with an $8B global food manufacturer.

    “Serving the customer of the future requires innovation,” says Lennert Luiten, CEO of Luiten Food. “Our vision is to integrate Fork and Good’s cultivated meat with familiar meat and plant-based options, paving the way for a new generation of products that satisfy our taste buds and support a sustainable future.”

    A ‘margin-first’ focus as investor ‘patience wears thin’

    orbillion bio funding
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    Following the acquisition, Fork & Good said it is taking a “margin-first” approach, centred on proving techno-economic viability at mid-scale before pursuing larger expansion. This will help demonstrate sustainable unit economics, an area where the sector has struggled. A B2B business model that does not involve building massive factories, therefore, is a winning strategy.

    “We focus on building a business that can deliver high-quality cultivated meat products at competitive cost while maintaining healthy profit margins,” says Gupta. “To reach a mass market, products must be both excellent and affordable. That requires constant attention to efficiency – optimising production, reducing input costs, and scaling smartly – without compromising quality or safety.

    “In practice, this means we designed our system based on unit economics at a factory level, rather than building a tech platform and then reducing cost. Thus, we ensure that cultivated meat can compete directly with conventional meat.”

    The acquisition comes amid a volatile time for cultivated meat – several companies have shuttered since 2024, and others have resorted to the M&A route (like Uncommon Bio and Parima). Funding, meanwhile, has plummeted from $1.3B in 2021 to just $139M in 2024 (and only $36M so far this year), as investors pivoted to AI and sectors with faster returns.

    “Building real-world solutions, especially in cultivated meat, takes time for science, engineering, and scale, and patience has worn thin where fundamentals lag. Still, meat remains a growing $2T opportunity, and overcoming early hurdles, such as in Fork and Good’s case, creates a strong moat,” argues Bubner.

    “Partners and strategic investors who understand this value and focus on long-term impact remain highly engaged, even as short-term ‘tourist’ investors move on.”

    Fork & Good eyeing cultivated meat approval in several markets

    lab grown beef
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    Highlighting the regulatory success of cultivated meat this year, Bubner says the industry has reached a stage where companies can deliver to customers, and the funding environment clarifies who the strongest players are.

    “Mergers and acquisitions reflect this maturation, consolidating talent and technology to accelerate commercialisation. We expect strategic consolidation to continue as the industry scales and focuses on delivering products reliably to market,” Gupta predicts.

    The merged entity will accelerate commercialisation and regulatory approvals for Fork & Good, which has filed a dossier with the US Food and Drug Administration and previously earmarked Q2 2026 as the earliest launch date for its cultivated pork. Gupta told Green Queen in February that it is pursuing the green light in Singapore too.

    Integrating Orbillion’s platform will create a “unified, scalable system applicable to both red meat types”, according to Bubner. The company is actively preparing submissions and engaging with authorities, but she declined to comment on product formats or timelines.

    “We work with global customers and are ready to supply as soon as regulatory approval is granted; we’re pursuing regulatory approval where our customers are,” she notes. “Our focus remains on ensuring our products meet all safety and compliance standards to support broad commercial availability once approvals are in place.”

    The post Exclusive: Fork & Good Acquires Orbillion to Take Cultivated Red Meat Platform Global appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • In Australia, You Can Now Cook Cultivated Meat at Home

    vow lab grown meat
    4 Mins Read

    Australian food tech leader Vow has made its cultivated meat products available for at-home use, including foie gras, a smoked spread, and croquettes.

    After months of Vow-ing diners at some of Australia’s top restaurants, the cultivated meat startup is making its retail debut.

    Under its consumer brand Forged, Vow has launched three direct-to-consumer products powered by its cultured quail, marking the first time consumers can buy multiple cultivated meat products for at-home use.

    The Japanese cultured quail offerings are being rolled out in fashion-industry-style ‘drops’, starting with the firm’s hometown of Sydney. Its residents can order foie gras, croquettes, and a smoked spread to level up the innovation in their kitchens. These will soon be followed by the parfait product that put Vow on the foodservice map.

    Vow’s Forged brand brings cultured meat to home kitchens

    lab grown meat where is it sold
    Courtesy: Vow

    The smoked cultured quail spread is described as rich and buttery, made with “the holy trinity of flavour – smoke, salt, and meat”. It contains unsalted butter, 40% cultivated meat, water, glucose and salt, and costs A$14.99 per 180g jar.

    “Legally we can’t call it butter, but it is butter, and we recommend you use it like butter,” the Forged webshop proclaims. The Hickory-smoked spread can be folded into pastries and mash, lathered atop warm bread, or whipped into sauces, for instance.

    Speaking of rich ingredients, foie gras is one of the most prized (and most problematic) delicacies out there. Vow’s version takes an axe to the animal cruelty, with 51% of the lobe containing its cultured quail, complemented by ingredients like herb-infused coconut oil, sunflower oil, fava bean protein, konjac, and more.

    The foie gras can be pan-seared for a golden crust and molten centre, roasted in the oven for a crisp exterior, shaved frozen over warm dishes, or even deep-fried. It’s sold in packs of five (for $25) or 10 ($50).

    Meanwhile, the crumbed croquettes come frozen and ready-to-fry. They combine 30% cultured quail parfait with mashed Désirée potatoes, shallots, port wine, and a host of flavourings, which are encased in a panko crust. They pair well with aioli, shaved truffle, pickled chillies, and crisp wines, and are available in a case of 20 (for $30) or 40 ($60).

    To make its cultivated meat, Vow uses a small selection of cells from a Japanese quail and places them in a nutrient-rich broth, which is transferred into fermentation tanks that recreate the conditions inside a quail’s body and allow the cells to grow and multiply naturally. The meat is ready for harvest in 79 days, when it is separated from the broth and incorporated into delicacies like parfait and foie gras.

    Retail debut comes amid production scale-up for Vow

    lab grown meat australia
    Courtesy: Vow

    Vow co-founder and CEO George Peppou had first teased the company’s plans to move into retail in a statement sent to Green Queen in April, after receiving preliminary approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The regulator’s food code changes were authorised by food ministers across the two countries in June, clearing the way for commercialisation.

    It has already been selling the ingredient to restaurants in Singapore, after receiving the regulatory green light in April 2024. It debuted in its home country this July, with its cultured quail available in dishes at 12 restaurants across Sydney and Melbourne.

    The company has raised $55M to date, and cut back 30% of its workforce earlier this year, a decision that stemmed from a longer-than-expected timeline for regulatory clearance, but one Peppou described as coming from a “position of strength as the industry leader, not a position of weakness”.

    vow cultured meat
    Courtesy: Vow

    Its cell cultivation capacity has extended to 35,000 litres within its second factory, which it says was 20 to 50 times cheaper to build than competitors. It operates the largest food-grade cell culture bioreactor at 20,000 litres, and claims to have completed the largest cultivated meat harvest in history (538 kg).

    By the end of the year, Vow expects to reach production levels of up to 900 kg per harvest, scaling to 10,800 kg monthly. Longer-term improvements that utilise the full factory capacity will allow it to eventually surpass 20,000 kg a month.

    Its foray into retail comes days before US startup Mission Barns debuts its cultivated pork meatballs at Berkeley Bowl West in California, offering Americans the first chance to buy cultured meat in a supermarket. It will later expand to Sprouts Farmers Market. Vow and Mission Barns’s retail rollouts have only been preceded by Eat Just, which listed its Good Meat cultivated chicken at Huber’s Butchery in Singapore last year.

    The post In Australia, You Can Now Cook Cultivated Meat at Home appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Parima Earns Singapore Approval for Cultivated Chicken After Vital Meat Merger

    vital meat approval
    5 Mins Read

    France’s Parima, formed this month after Gourmey’s acquisition of Vital Meat, has received regulatory approval to sell cultivated chicken in Singapore, a first for a European startup.

    Parima has become the first European startup to be cleared to sell cultivated meat for human food anywhere in the world, following approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

    The French startup was formed as a result of cultivated meat maker Gourmey’s acquisition of Vital Meat, which developed the cultivated chicken product now greenlit in Singapore.

    It marks the Southeast Asian country’s second authorisation for cultivated meat this year, with Friends & Family Pet Food Co getting the nod for its Kampung bird products, and the first for human applications since Vow‘s cultured quail in 2024.

    The development also brings an end to a long regulatory saga for Parima in the city-state. “We submitted our chicken regulatory dossier to the SFA at the end of 2023,” Étienne Duthoit, founder of Vital Meat and now part of Parima’s leadership team, tells Green Queen.

    Parima did not respond to questions about its launch plans or potential retail distribution in Singapore. That said, the company did host a public tasting for its innovation at Hue restaurant, featuring dishes like cultivated chicken skin chips, handmade chicken ravioli in a chicken broth, and chicken rice.

    Parima promises ‘meaningful’ inclusion rate of cultivated meat

    singapore lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Parima

    Vital Meat uses cell-line technology developed from nearly 25 years of avian cell research at Groupe Grimaud, a global animal genetics leader, turning cells from fertilised chicken eggs into cultivated meat.

    It already operated a pilot plant near Nantes, equipped with 2,000-litre bioreactors, but as part of Parima, it’s joined forces with Gourmey’s innovation centre and a pilot facility in central Paris, where it runs multiple 400-litre bioreactors. The combined bioreactor capacity reaches several thousand litres.

    Like most companies in the space, Parima is taking the hybrid meat route, combining its cell-cultured protein with plant-based ingredients to form meat products. The firm hasn’t disclosed the exact share of different ingredients, but Duthoit notes it is a strong proponent of “meaningful inclusion rates” of cultivated meat.

    “It’s the only way to truly meet consumers’ expectations for authentic taste, texture, and nutrition, and to clearly stand apart from first-generation plant-based options,” he explains. “Our technology also gives us flexibility: we can adjust the proportion of cultivated cells depending on the recipe, always aiming for the highest-quality products.”

    Parima isn’t revealing how much the product will cost, though Duthoit promises it has “a clear path toward viable unit economics, not only for premium products, but also for high-volume applications like chicken”.

    “Our strategy remains the same: start with premium segments where quality and differentiation matter most, then progressively expand towards broader market access as we scale,” he says.

    A breakthrough for Singapore’s delayed approvals

    vital meat
    Courtesy: Vital Meat/Parima

    Singapore is widely recognised as a hub for future food tech, thanks to a robust R&D ecosystem, highly skilled workforce, strong government support and investment, and heightened consumer acceptance.

    As Parima notes, the SFA’s rigorous science-based regulatory framework for novel foods is recognised as amongst the most advanced globally. And the agency granted the world’s first approval of cultivated meat to Eat Just’s Good Meat division back in 2020.

    All this led a host of cultivated meat players to focus their attention on the island nation and file for regulatory clearance, but their success has been sparse. Vow only became the second company to earn the regulator’s green light, three-and-a-half years after Good Meat.

    “After being the first country to approve cultivated meat at the time, they really want to make sure that they are not perceived as a country where it is easy to get approvals,” Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Israeli cultivated beef maker Aleph Farms (which is also awaiting the SFA’s go-ahead), told Green Queen last month.

    This is why Parima’s approval is a breakthrough. Its team worked closely with the SFA to demonstrate compliance with the regulator’s food safety, quality, and transparency requirements. The extensive and collaborative review eventually confirmed the cultivated chicken as safe for human consumption.

    “It validates the safety and robustness of the core foundation of our multi-species platform and strengthens our position to lead the market introduction of high-quality, economically viable cultivated proteins across multiple markets,” says Parima CEO and Gourmey co-founder Nicolas Morin-Forest.

    Parima eyes global dominance in cultivated meat’s milestone year

    parima cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Parima

    Parima has another application with the SFA, which is reviewing the safety of Gourmey’s cultivated duck. In addition, the startup has seven other active filings across the globe, including the EU, the UK (it is the most advanced in both jurisdictions), Switzerland, the US, Australia and New Zealand, and another undisclosed country.

    It has repeatedly signalled its goal to become the first cultivated meat company to be cleared to get the regulatory nod for two animal species. And Morin-Forest has indicated that the first approval for the Gourmey brand could come in Singapore too.

    “We’re fuelling close collaborations with regulators worldwide on multiple dossiers, including our cultivated duck,” Duthoit says. “The dialogue continues to advance constructively, and we’re confident the next approvals will follow soon. Each milestone brings cultivated foods closer to consumers, safely, reliably, and at scale.”

    Some businesses are hoping to use Singaporean approval as a benchmark for regulatory clearance in other countries, including the UK. Will Parima take that approach too?

    “While there’s currently no formal equivalence between Singapore’s framework and other regulatory agencies, this approval sets a strong precedent. It reinforces confidence in the safety and robustness of our technology, which supports all our ongoing submissions,” says Duthoit.

    lab grown meat approved
    Graphic by Green Queen

    Parima is the latest in a growing list of cultivated meat startups cleared to sell their proteins this year. In addition to Vow and Friends & Family’s approvals, Wildtype and Mission Barns are selling their salmon and pork products in the US, respectively, and Believer Meats has earned FDA approval for cultivated chicken. In the EU, Biocraft Pet Nutrition and Umami Bioworks registered their cultivated meat innovations as feed materials, which can now be sold as pet food ingredients.

    Parima suggests that the Singapore clearance provides a launchpad for its broader Asian go-to-market strategy, with culinary partners and major agrifood groups already showing interest in its protein portfolio.

    “Our strategy has always been global from day one, with eight active dossiers progressing in parallel across major markets,” notes Duthoit. “Singapore’s green light is an important signal for those upcoming approvals.”

    The post Parima Earns Singapore Approval for Cultivated Chicken After Vital Meat Merger appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Shanghai’s JSBio Expands Into Cultivated Meat to Tap China’s Future Food Opportunity

    jsbio
    5 Mins Read

    Jianshun Biosciences, a Shanghai-based culture media supplier, has expanded from biopharma to the cellular agriculture field to join China’s booming alternative protein industry.

    With more patents than any other region in the world, and an ecosystem boosted by government investment, it’d be a mistake not to look at China’s alternative protein industry as anything but world-beating.

    And homegrown companies are recognising the opportunity. Based in Shanghai, Jianshun Biosciences (JSBio) is one of them. The firm is a leading cell culture media manufacturer for the biopharma sector, with operations in the US and South Korea too. But now, it is building on that expertise to cater to the cultivated meat industry.

    “JSBio has expanded into cultivated meat to leverage its biopharma expertise and large-scale cell culture capabilities,” founder Shun Luo tells Green Queen. “This move aligns with our mission to promote sustainable food innovation and the health of both people and the planet.”

    The company will deliver serum-free formulations, food-grade components, and process development support to help cultivated meat producers scale up efficiently, with Luo describing the cellular agriculture focus as a “natural next step” from advancing human health to supporting long-term wellbeing.

    Asia’s largest dry powder culture media network

    jsbiosciences
    Courtesy: JSBio

    Founded in 2011, JSBio has developed over 200 serum-free culture media products tailored to various cell types. Additionally, it provides process optimisation support to help businesses improve yields, maintain cell health, and scale efficiently.

    In recent years, the firm has collaborated closely with trailblazing cultivated meat companies, leading to the development of its CellKey Series of culture media. This supports the unique demands of cultured meat production while incorporating food-grade components at an industrial scale.

    “JSBio works with top cultivated meat companies globally, including several that have already achieved important regulatory milestones,” explains COO Louis Cheung, without disclosing the names of the companies.

    “JSBio produces cell culture media from high-quality, food-grade materials,” he adds. “Dry-powder media are made with an automated pin-milling system, while liquid media use single-use preparation and terminal filtration. Each batch undergoes strict quality checks before aseptic filling and traceable delivery.”

    In fact, the firm operates Asia’s largest dry powder culture media network, with an annual capacity exceeding 6,000 tonnes across several sites. This, Cheung says, positions JSBio to deliver both scale and affordability to partner companies.

    JSBio’s culture media costs under $1 per litre

    lab grown meat china
    Courtesy: JSBio

    “JSBio integrates its services into cultivated meat production by providing end-to-end support, including food-grade raw materials, culture media at various scales, and formula optimisation to meet companies’ operational needs,” says Cheung. “Regulatory support is a core focus, with strict quality controls helping streamline approvals and accelerate market entry.”

    Culture media are essential to the production of cultivated meat, entailing a mix of nutrients to facilitate the growth of animal cells. These components account for the majority of the costs involved in the entire process, and reducing this is key to reaching price parity with conventional meat.

    Typically, culture medium costs hundreds of dollars per litre, thanks to expensive animal inputs like bovine serum albumin and fetal bovine serum, as well as growth factors and basal media (such as amino acids, vitamins, and glucose).

    Globally, more and more cultivated meat companies are shifting to serum-free media formulations to drive down production costs, with US startup Clever Carnivore bringing this to just $0.07 per litre at pilot scale.

    “Media remains a major cost driver in cultivated meat production. We work to understand what cells truly need, streamline formulations, secure cost-efficient raw materials, and enable processes like high-temperature-short-time (HTST) sterilisation – and that’s just a glimpse of how we help partners scale cultivated meat more cost-effectively,” says Cheung.

    “For existing cultivated meat clients, JSBio offers culture media at less than $1 per litre,” he adds. “As we expand our supply chain and adopt new technologies to boost productivity, we anticipate further reductions in cost.”

    China embraces cultivated meat

    jianshun biosciences
    Courtesy: JSBio

    With its expansion into cellular agriculture, JSBio has joined the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture to build strategic partnerships and drive regional innovation.

    “JSBio is among the most capable players in Asia for culture media innovation and scalable bioprocess support,” said program director Peter Yu. “With their regional leadership and solid expertise, JSBio will help global players scale efficiently in Asia and advance commercialisation.”

    The company’s shift towards cultivated meat comes amid growing public acceptance and government backing for these proteins. A recent survey found that 77% of citizens in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are open to trying cultured meat, and 45% are likely to replace conventional meat and seafood with these.

    Meanwhile, the current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat, while the bioeconomy development strategy aims to advance novel foods. China is already home to eight of the top 20 patent applicants for these novel proteins.

    This year, the country saw its first alternative protein innovation centre open in Beijing, fuelled by an $11M investment from public and private investors to develop novel foods like cultivated meat. And in the Guangdong province, officials are planning to build a biomanufacturing hub for plant-based, microbial and cultivated proteins.

    At the annual Two Sessions summit, top government officials called for a deeper integration of strategic emerging industries like biomanufacturing, and the agriculture ministry outlined the safety and nutritional efficacy of alternative proteins as a key priority. And a document signalling China’s top goals for the year underscored the importance of protein diversification, including efforts “to explore novel food resources”.

    The post Shanghai’s JSBio Expands Into Cultivated Meat to Tap China’s Future Food Opportunity appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Abu Dhabi to Launch Framework for Regulatory Approval of Cultivated Meat & Novel Proteins

    abu dhabi novel food
    4 Mins Read

    The UAE’s capital has begun work on establishing a framework for novel food approvals aligned with best practices from international regulators.

    Abu Dhabi is doubling down on its promise to boost food security through future-friendly food, launching a new strategic initiative to develop a regulatory framework for novel proteins like cultivated meat and animal-free dairy.

    The endeavour was born out of a collaboration between the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), the Quality and Conformity Council (QCC), and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).

    The move aims to position the Emirati capital as a global leader in food innovation, reducing approval timelines by six to nine months and accelerating market entry for novel foods.

    It comes just a day after ADIO teamed up with Vivici and The Every Company to explore the establishment of a four-million-litre precision fermentation facility. The partnership was also said to support the creation of a regulatory pathway for these animal-free proteins.

    Abu Dhabi’s regulatory framework to align with ‘international best practices’

    believer meats chicken
    Courtesy: Believer Meats

    The development of this regulatory framework “embodies Abu Dhabi’s commitment to adopting the highest global standards for food safety and innovation”, according to Dr Tariq Ahmed Al Ameri, acting director-general of the ADAFSA. “It enhances the readiness of our regulatory ecosystem to embrace emerging technologies such as cultivated proteins and precision fermentation-based foods.”

    The framework will put in place a comprehensive and streamlined system for novel foods, in alignment with international best practices, including those adopted by the UAE, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the EU, Singapore, and the US.

    As part of the initiative, the Abu Dhabi government will look to simplify procedures and speed up commercialisation by unifying registration requirements for new food products, halal certification, and production and import permits through a single-point contact system.

    It will further introduce a science-based risk assessment approach based on the type and maturity of technologies, and update the halal certification system to align with modern advancements and global benchmarks, particularly those of Malaysia and Indonesia. This, in turn, will strengthen international recognition of UAE halal certificates and boost the competitiveness of national food exports.

    In addition to these elements, Abu Dhabi will develop a national database of approved food products, alongside detailed technical and regulatory guidelines, in an effort to ensure transparency and reliability.

    “This agreement underscores the Council’s commitment to supporting the industrial and regulatory sectors through robust quality infrastructure services that ensure product conformity, particularly halal products, to the highest safety and quality standards,” said Fahad Gharib Al Shamsi, acting secretary-general of the QCC.

    The novel food sector’s focus on halal certification extends beyond Abu Dhabi and the UAE. Leading Islamic authorities in Singapore, South Korea and Qatar have all issued fatwas supporting Muslims’ consumption of cultivated meat. Shariah scholars in Saudi Arabia and the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America have also made similar conclusions.

    Food security driving Abu Dhabi’s novel food regulation

    cultivated meat regulatory approval
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    The Abu Dhabi government noted that the initiative aims to drive economic growth and food system resilience by leveraging cutting-edge food technologies and attracting high-value agrifood and biotech investments.

    But at the heart of the UAE’s regulatory advancements for novel food is its bid to become the world’s most food-secure nation by 2051. Currently, it relies heavily on food imports to meet 90% of its population’s needs.

    Last year, the capital established an AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (AGWA) cluster to bolster food and water security with advanced technologies. It’s set to contribute Dhs 90 billion ($24.5B) in additional GDP to Abu Dhabi’s economy and create 60,000 new jobs by 2045, with an expected investment of Dhs 128 billion ($34.8B).

    “With a focus on accelerating the adoption of advanced solutions such as alternative proteins and precision fermentation, this collaboration reflects our commitment to the UAE National Food Security Strategy 2051 and reinforces Abu Dhabi’s role as a global centre for food innovation,” said ADIO director-general Badr Al-Olama.

    “This partnership is designed to build a connected business ecosystem that combines forward-thinking regulations with Abu Dhabi’s strong investment ecosystem and solid support for technological innovation,” he added.

    Food security is also the target of alternative protein companies eyeing the UAE market. As revealed by Green Queen, Israel’s Aleph Farms is planning to file for regulatory approval of its cultivated beef in the country.

    “We have a strong agenda in terms of food security at Aleph Farms, which is raising a lot of interest, essentially because of the geopolitical tensions, tariffs and disruptions of supply chains globally, especially for animal proteins,” its co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia said last month.

    In 2024, AGWA also partnered with fellow Israeli cultivated meat firm Believer Meats to establish a regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi, with the two entities working together to establish a regulatory pathway and halal certification standards.

    The post Abu Dhabi to Launch Framework for Regulatory Approval of Cultivated Meat & Novel Proteins appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Funding for Alternative Proteins Rebounds in Q3, with Europe Leading the Charge

    plant based meat funding
    4 Mins Read

    Following a dismal first half of 2025, funding for alternative protein startups bounced back in Q3 as investors rallied around differentiated tech and financial credibility.

    Plant-based and fermentation-derived proteins enjoyed a resurgence in VC flows in Q3 2025, a departure from the sector’s recent struggles to attract investors.

    Alternative protein startups collectively raised $247M between July and September, nearly double the $130M total from the previous quarter, according to the Good Food Institute’s (GFI) analysis of data from Net Zero Insights.

    There are caveats, though: investments were highly concentrated in Europe, and cultivated meat companies still struggled to attract funding, despite having their most successful year in terms of regulatory approvals yet.

    Those working with plant-based proteins and ingredients derived from biomass fermentation, however, emerged as the biggest winners in this period. Still, barring a miracle fourth quarter, the overall sector is on course for a fourth consecutive year of investment decline.

    Plant-based startups ride on unique tech and commercial traction

    alternative protein investment
    Courtesy: GFI

    According to GFI’s analysis, plant-based companies attracted $142M in Q3 2025, surpassing the entire alternative protein sector’s Q2 total. This was led by a $58M round for France’s Nxtfood, which owns the Accro brand of meat alternatives and tripled its revenue last year.

    It means this segment has attracted more capital in the first nine months of 2025 ($322M) than it did in all 2024, when annual capital flows declined by 64% to reach just $309M. This aligns with investment trends in the larger climate tech sector, which has surpassed its 2024 totals in this period too.

    “Capital continues to flow to select, well-positioned companies with differentiated tech, credible paths toward progress on taste and price, and commercial traction,” said Daniel Gertner, GFI’s lead economic and industry analyst.

    “In Q3, nearly three-quarters of plant-based deal value was secured by companies based in Europe, where retailers are driving protein diversification initiatives and private-label expansion, and where pockets of retail sales growth persist,” he added.

    This speaks to a larger trend. Over two-thirds of alternative protein capital flows went to companies headquartered in Western Europe. US businesses captured less than one-fifth of the total.

    Meanwhile, fermentation startups bagged $105M in Q3, most of which ($93M) went towards biomass fermentation technologies, specifically The Protein Brewery ($35M), The Better Meat Co ($31M) and Revyve ($28M). But while that takes the segment’s total to $253M so far this year, this is less than half of the $651M it raised in 2024.

    better meat co
    Courtesy: The Better Meat Co

    Investors seeking ‘near-term proof points’ for cultivated meat

    Cultivated meat has had a milestone year – seven companies have received some form of regulatory clearance in different jurisdictions to sell their proteins for human or pet food. But investor enthusiasm has not matched the regulatory success.

    Startups in this sector received only $227,000 in Q3. And no deals were publicly disclosed in Q2 either, putting cultivated meat’s total investment at just $36M for the first nine months of this year. In contrast, this technology attracted $139M in 2024, itself a 40% decline from the previous year.

    “Cultivated meat is capital-intensive and milestone-driven, so funding is likely to cluster around key technical and commercial advancements,” Gertner pointed out.

    “Right now, investors seem to be watching for additional near-term proof points such as favourable unit economics, further regulatory approvals, and consumer traction. We’ve seen meaningful progress on these fronts in 2025, but bridging the scale-up phase will still require additional capital from public, private, and philanthropic sources.”

    Can the alternative protein industry build on this?

    bettani farms
    Courtesy: Bettani Farms

    The uneven access to funding across regions and technologies has pushed companies to tap into large corporations, foundations and the public sector, in the form of partnerships, acquisitions, grants, and research consortia. These mechanisms will be increasingly important in extending runway as VC dollars flow to fewer companies and in smaller checks until the sector delivers high-multiple exits, GFI said.

    Compared to Q3 2024, investments in plant-based companies doubled in the corresponding period this year, but declined by 43% for fermentation startups and 92% for cultivated protein firms.

    But Gertner warned against looking too much into quarter-to-quarter variations in a sector where just a small number of deals can significantly influence overall totals. Multi-year progress on “scale-up, product innovation, and corporate involvement” is more informative.

    Can the industry sustain this bit of momentum? Is it past the trough of illusionment? It’s worth noting that investors pumped $1.1B into alternative proteins last year – as of Q3 2025, that cumulative total sits at just $611M thus far.

    “A sustained upswing in private investments in alternative protein companies will rely on companies demonstrating credible paths to profitability and achieving tangible exits such as IPOs and strategic acquisitions,” argued Gartner. “In the near term, capital will likely continue to concentrate around firms that hit technical and scale milestones and demonstrate strong market performance.”

    The post Funding for Alternative Proteins Rebounds in Q3, with Europe Leading the Charge appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Mission Barns’s Cultivated Pork to Make Supermarket Debut at Berkeley Bowl

    mission barns
    4 Mins Read

    Californian startup Mission Barns will hold the US’s first retail sale of cultivated meat on November 1, selling pork meatballs at Berkeley Bowl West.

    Next week, Americans can walk into a grocery store and buy cultivated meat off the shelf for the first time.

    The product in question is made by Mission Barns, a San Francisco-based startup that has received FDA and USDA approval to sell its cultivated pork fat in the US.

    Its pork meatballs will be sold at Berkeley Bowl West, an independent grocery store on Heinz Avenue, on November 1, with each 304g tray priced at $13.99. The one-time sale will be held at 3pm in aisle 16 of the store, and the limited stock means shoppers can only buy one pack each.

    The retail debut comes nearly two months after Mission Barns introduced its cultivated meatballs and bacon to diners at Fiorella restaurant in San Francisco’s Sunset District. Now, it is hosting a four-part tasting series at Berkeley Bowl West, titled Bites from the Barn, starting the same day as the sale.

    Public tasting series to spotlight cultivated meatballs and salami

    where to buy lab grown meat in us​
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    Bites from the Barn is being billed as the “largest free-to-the-public cultivated meat tasting series ever held”, and will offer consumers a chance to taste the future-facing products and engage directly with Mission Barns’s team.

    Each event will feature live cooking demonstrations and opportunities to meet the company’s scientists to learn about the tech used to produce its cultivated pork products.

    The tastings will be held once per month. The first, on November 1, will spotlight the meatballs, while the second will feature Mission Barns’s Italian-style dry-cured salami on December 12. The final two events, on January 16 and February 21, will give consumers a taste of the meatballs too.

    On launch day, one of the meatball packs will contain a golden ticket, the recipient of which will be invited to a private tasting and tour at the startup’s facility in San Francisco.

    “We’ve been excited to work with Mission Barns for many years, and these meatballs – made with their cultivated pork fat – deliver the same flavour and texture as conventional pork while offering an option for our meat-loving and flexitarian customers,” said Anthony LeBlanc, head meat buyer at Berkeley Bowl.

    “Berkeley Bowl has long been a launchpad for innovative food brands,” he added. “We’re proud to be the first US grocery store to offer cultivated pork to our customers.”

    The company’s CEO, Cecilia Chang, said the tasting series is an open invitation to join the mission to make meat tastier and healthier than the market standard. “We talk about scaling technology, but real change scales through people voting with their plates. That’s why this series matters: it’s where health meets flavour, innovation meets community, and the movement truly begins to grow,” she noted.

    Mission Barns partners with Tufts to gauge consumer acceptance

    are grocery stores selling lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    Mission Barns uses belly fat cells from American Yorkshire pigs and grows them in bioreactors to make its Mission Fat. This fat is then mixed with plant-based ingredients to make products like meatballs, bacon, sausages, and salami.

    This hybrid approach allows the startup to keep costs from soaring too high and scale production in an efficient manner. And since fat is the primary flavour carrier in food, even a little bit goes a long way in replicating conventional meat.

    Mission Fat will appear on the label as a composition of purified water, cell-cultivated pork fat cells, and kosher salt. It’s mixed with pea protein, coconut oil, Italian seasonings, methylcellulose and other ingredients to make the meatballs.

    Now, the company is collaborating with researchers at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture, who will capture real-world feedback and consumer attitudes at the tasting series, in a bid to inform future study design and public acceptance frameworks.

    “This partnership gives us a unique opportunity to study how consumers encounter cultivated meat outside the R&D lab or focus group setting,” said Sean Cash, an economist and professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “Understanding how people experience and talk about these novel products in everyday environments will be key to shaping responsible and transparent innovation across the food system.”

    Mission Barns has also earned a listing at Sprouts Farmers Market, and was aiming to hit shelves in Oakland in Q3. Green Queen has contacted the startup for updates on this partnership.

    The sale at Berkeley Bowl West will only be the second instance of a cultivated meat product being available in retail. Last year, fellow Californian firm Eat Just launched its Good Meat cultivated chicken at Huber’s Butchery in Singapore.

    Meanwhile, there’s another cultivated protein on sale in the US. Wildtype’s cultured coho salmon is available at restaurants in Oregon, California, Washington and New York. It was previously also available in Texas, before the state’s ban on cultivated meat came into effect, sparking a lawsuit from Wildtype and cultivated chicken maker Upside Foods.

    The post Mission Barns’s Cultivated Pork to Make Supermarket Debut at Berkeley Bowl appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Patent Filings for Sustainable Proteins Continue to Fall, Shows New Study

    meatable lab grown meat
    5 Mins Read

    Amid the slowdown in sales of plant-based meat and investment in alternative proteins, innovation is losing a little momentum too, according to a new patent analysis.

    Patent filings for plant-based and cultivated meat are mirroring the trends seen in the retail and investment sectors, with the number of applications on a downward correction after years of sustained growth.

    That’s the takeaway from the fifth edition of IP firm Appleyard Lees’s Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report, which reviewed global patent filings in the energy, AI, materials and food sectors in 2022.

    The analysis revealed that patent applications for cultivated meat fell by nearly 10% from 125 in 2022 to 113 in 2023, a far cry from the 9% increase in the former year. Meanwhile, the decline in plant-based meat filings continued for a second consecutive year, falling by 20% from 280 to 223.

    “In the cultivated meat sector, funding, regulation, and consumer uptake remain key challenges for innovators, alongside upscaling and production efficiency,” said Emily Bevan-Smith, a patent attorney at Appleyard Lees.

    James Myatt, a partner at the firm, added: “In plant-based meats, sales fell by 12% and some manufacturers have either reduced operations or gone into administration.”

    Plant-based meat patent filings fell, but consumer interest may be renewing

    vegan patents
    Courtesy: Appleyard Lees

    The decline in new priority filings (the first patent application for a unique invention) for plant-based meat was largely driven by a 37% dip in the US. European applications were more stable, with the number of filings 30% higher than the US – this is in stark contrast with previous years, where the two regions have competed closely on innovation, and is reflective of a stronger market for these products in Europe.

    Unique assignees, which indicate the number of individual patent applicants or owners who have filed a patent for a given technology, for vegan meat alternatives decreased in 2023. This suggests that fewer entities are filing patents and that the industry is becoming more challenging for smaller businesses.

    While the flavour and texture of these products were key focuses for companies in 2022, there was an equal decrease in the number of filings in each of these areas in 2023. The reduction was also consistent across all protein types, with applications for tofu and tempeh showing the largest decrease

    In terms of companies, Cargill and Unilever made a record number of applications in 2023. The former spotlighted wheat gluten, lentil flour, pea protein and corn protein, while the latter’s surge reflected the eventual sale of The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-owned Vivera. Fuji Oil and Roquette Frères were also among the top filers, though their totals fell slightly from 2022. And Nestlé had the most significant decrease among the major applicants.

    plant based meat patents
    Courtesy: Appleyard Lees

    The report suggests that the drop in plant-based meat innovation was possibly due to “continuing commercial difficulties in the industry”, alongside consumer concerns around ultra-processing and unsatisfactory taste and texture. Plus, these products can cost up to 82% more, making them less appealing to shoppers.

    That said, the number of filings in 2023 was the third highest ever recorded, and remained higher than at any point before 2020, showcasing continued R&D in the space despite the “apparent wavering of consumer interest in plant-based meat products”.

    Appleyard Lees says there are causes for optimism. Plant-based meat products held their own in taste tests with omnivores, just as recent evidence suggests public concerns over the health ills of plant-based meat are largely unsubstantiated.

    “It seems possible that a renewed wave of consumer interest in plant-based meat could be approaching, driven by innovations improving the quality of plant-based meats and reducing the cost of their manufacture,” the report reads.

    Cultivated meat innovation needs government and investor support

    cultivated meat patents
    Courtesy: Appleyard Lees

    The IP firm argues that patent filings for cultivated meat may have peaked in 2022 – for now. The lack of investment and regulatory uncertainties in the US likely contributed to the 40% fall in applications in the US in 2023. It is now only marginally ahead of Europe and South Korea.

    Speaking of which, Europe also saw a 25% decline in patent activity, which Appleyard Lees ascribed partly to a split between pro- and anti-cultivated-meat regulations, along with growing apprehension about the industry’s effect on farmers.

    In Asia, though, things were more positive. Japan experienced a doubling in application numbers after then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida publicly endorsed cultivated meat. South Korea witnessed an increase too, thanks in large part to government support for industry innovation.

    There was a decrease in the share of unique patent applicants for cultivated meat in 2023. Dutch cultured pork producer Meatable was the top filer, with applications related to the methods of culturing and maturing cells and increasing fat accumulation to tune flavours.

    South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions Corporation was the second busiest applicant. And in the longer term, Ivy Farm Technologies, Upside Foods, Korea Food Research Institute, and Ajinomoto have all been prominent patent filers in this segment since 2019.

    lab grown meat patents
    Courtesy: Appleyard Lees

    “Global patent activity in the cultivated meat sector shows a strong push to appeal to consumers by creating products that closely resemble conventional meat in flavour, texture, nutritional value and cooking behaviour,” said Myatt.

    “A significant hurdle for this sector is securing investment and navigating local regulatory environments, which in some geographies (and key markets) are uncertain and polarising,” the report states. “Despite these issues, patent filings are increasing, and may continue to increase, in countries where this technology has government support.”

    The post Patent Filings for Sustainable Proteins Continue to Fall, Shows New Study appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Parima Set to Receive FSANZ Approval for Cultivated Duck Under Gourmey Brand by August 2026

    gourmey cultivated meat
    4 Mins Read

    Food Standards Australia and New Zealand has formally accepted a dossier by French firm Parima to sell cultivated duck products, which is expected to be approved next year.

    Parima, a cultivated meat company formed last week, could be selling cultured foie gras and pâté to consumers in Australia and New Zealand by August 2026.

    The startup’s regulatory dossier for cultivated duck, made under its Gourmey brand, has been officially accepted by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). Now, the application will enter the scientific risk assessment process.

    Parima emerged as a new entity after Gourmey acquired French cultivated chicken firm Vital Meat, marrying their tech, regulatory and manufacturing prowess, with a combined 15 patent families and more than 70 applications. The company is seeking regulatory clearance for its cultivated meat products in seven markets.

    Its FSANZ filing comes months after the regulator gave the green light to Sydney-based cultivated quail maker Vow, which has been selling its protein in the form of parfait and foie gras in restaurants across Australia since July.

    How Gourmey makes its cultivated duck

    lab grown meat approval
    Courtesy: Sherry Hack

    The standout feature of Parima’s application is that it will be assessed under FSANZ’s General (Level 5) Procedure, as opposed to its Major Procedure. It means the process is expected to take less than a year, since it only requires one round of public consultation. It’s also around A$40,000 cheaper.

    It’s important to note that the late August 2026 timeline underlined by FSANZ is not set in stone. Vow’s application was meant to take around 15 months and be approved by June 2024, but was delayed by a year as the regulator amended its Food Standards Code.

    Parima submitted its application in August. In its dossier, the startup explains that it employs non-GM cell lines and a semi-continuous process using shake flasks. Duck cells are grown in controlled conditions until the viable density is reached – after this, the majority of the culture volume is inoculated in a suspension bioreactor, and a small amount is retained to maintain a continuous process.

    Once the culture in the bioreactor reaches the desired density, the biomass is harvested and separated from the culture media by centrifugation, before being washed with a saline solution. It is then packed and frozen until it’s ready to be used to make a final product, in combination with other food-safe ingredients.

    “Cell-cultured duck is proposed for use by the general population, without sensitivities to duck or other avian species, as a food ingredient for further processing to be used [in] duck meat analogues at an inclusion rate of 5-80% by weight of the finished food,” the company says.

    The cultivated duck can be turned into meat analogues, spreadable specialties, and fats and oils. Gourmey has already unveiled its foie gras application, which has been endorsed by a group of Michelin-starred chefs.

    Parima’s regulatory progress latest in milestone year for cultivated meat

    parima cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Parima

    According to a document released by the FSANZ, the scientific risk assessment report will take about six months, followed by a six-week public consultation period starting in March. The FSANZ board will then make its approval decision, before being discussed by ministers in both countries in June.

    “We look forward to working transparently and constructively with FSANZ as the review progresses, bringing cultivated foods one step closer to consumers’ plates,” Parima said in a statement.

    It currently operates an innovation centre and a pilot facility in central Paris, where it runs multiple 400-litre bioreactors, and a pilot plant near Nantes, equipped with 2,000-litre bioreactors run daily. It also has a dedicated setup with a 5,000-litre fermenter, which analysis shows can bring costs down to $3.43 per lb. And in June, it partnered with AI specialist DeepLife to develop an avian digital twin to optimise production of its cultivated meat.

    Aside from Australia and New Zealand, Parima has filed for approval in the EU (where it is the most advanced), the UK (also the most advanced here), Switzerland, Singapore, the US, and another undisclosed country.

    In an interview with Green Queen this summer, Gourmey co-founder and Parima CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest had said it was expecting approval in Singapore first.

    “We anticipate the first market authorisations within the next few months,” he said last week. “We’re aiming to become the first European cultivated meat company to get approved, and the first ever company with approval for two species: duck and chicken.”

    lab grown meat approved
    Graphic by Green Queen

    Its regulatory efforts come on the back of a milestone year for cultivated meat. US companies Wildtype and Mission Barns have begun selling their salmon and pork products in the country, respectively, while Believer Meats has earned FDA approval and is awaiting the nod from the USDA.

    Friends & Family Pet Food Company, meanwhile, was cleared to sell cultivated pet food in Singapore, and Biocraft Pet Nutrition and Umami Bioworks registered their cultivated meat innovations as feed materials in the EU, allowing them to sell the products as pet food ingredients.

    The post Parima Set to Receive FSANZ Approval for Cultivated Duck Under Gourmey Brand by August 2026 appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • GFI Buys SciFi Foods’s Cell Lines, Releases Them to Advance Cultivated Meat Research

    cell lines for cultivated meat
    5 Mins Read

    The Good Food Institute has acquired cell lines and growth media from defunct startup SciFi Foods, and partnered with Tufts University to make them available for cultivated meat researchers.

    In a major move to save the future food industry years of effort and millions of dollars for R&D, the Good Food Institute (GFI) has purchased cultivated meat components developed by SciFi Foods to free them up for public use.

    The non-profit has bought eight bovine cell lines and two serum-free media formulations at an auction of SciFi Foods’s assets, following the Californian startup’s closure in 2024.

    GFI has also partnered with the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) to store and validate the components and place them in an open-access cell bank for academia and, eventually, companies. This cell bank will be housed at the institute’s upcoming future foods innovation hub.

    It marks the first time suspension-adapted bovine cell lines will be available to cultivated meat researchers globally, and is set to remove some of the preeminent barriers to market entry for industry players.

    “SCiFi’s pioneering work is like a baton in a relay. Given our role in the field, GFI was able to ensure that baton didn’t drop, and through our partnership with Tufts, copies of that same baton will be handed off to scientists and startups around the world, enabling more people to join the race,” highlighted Dr Amanda Hildebrand, VP of science and technology at GFI.

    How GFI snapped up SciFi Foods’s cell lines

    scifi foods
    Courtesy: SciFi Foods

    Founded in 2019, SciFi Foods began growing cell lines for beef in 2023, developing a hybrid burger with 90% soy protein and 10% cultivated meat. It had raised $40M in funding, was in consultation with the US FDA for approval, and operated a 16,000 sq ft pilot facility, where it completed a commercial-scale production run in a 500-litre bioreactor.

    The startup had hoped to enter the market by 2025, but as investors withdrew from the wider cultivated meat sector, SciFi Foods was unable to escape the headwinds. It shut down in June 2024 after running out of cash, appointing an advisory firm for the sale of its assets.

    Among the parties notified of the auction were GFI and Tufts. The former’s bid was accepted in August, and the cells and media were successfully transferred to the latter for storage and distribution a month later.

    “We didn’t know who else might show up for the auction, but collectively agreed it would be a shame for SCiFI’s technology to get locked in a box somewhere, so we were excited that GFI decided to bid,” said Meera Zassenhaus, director of communications for TUCCA.

    The components bought by GFI include the three most commercially developed beef cell lines from SciFi Foods. These had been modified by the gene-editing technology CRISPR to ensure their ability to grow indefinitely in culture, and subsequently adapted to grow in scalable single-cell suspensions.

    Two of these cell lines were further engineered to remove markers of antibiotic resistance (genes inserted in the R&D stage), making them suitable for food applications.

    “When we started SCiFi Foods, we had to start from square one, beginning with a small sample of cells from a cow on an actual farm. It took us four years and tens of millions of dollars to develop these cells into commercial cell lines that grow quickly in suspension and in serum-free media,” said SciFi Foods co-founder and CEO Joshua March.

    “This was a massive technical achievement… but despite our relative speed, our progress wasn’t on the time-to-revenue required in today’s VC market. Despite our disappointment that we can’t take the SCiFi burger to market, we are extremely excited by GFI’s acquisition of our cell lines and the collaboration with Tufts for use by the field.”

    Open-access cell lines a ‘win-win-win’ for cultivated meat

    tufts cellular agriculture
    Courtesy: Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture

    “So many experiments currently take place in small-scale systems, and at the end of the day, those experiments can only go so far in informing large-scale, bioreactor-based processes,” said Dr Andrew Stout, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at TUCCA.

    “When labs across the field have access to shared, scalable, and serum-free systems, I think it will cause a real leap in the value and applicability of their research. At the same time, I’m hopeful that these cells will also help to catalyse a broadening pattern of resource sharing and cell line optimisation across the field,” he added.

    According to GFI, cultivated meat makers currently spend a significant portion of their funds and time on cell line development, which costs between $2-10M, so access to these materials could save the industry tens of millions and years of R&D, removing barriers for future startups.

    Open access to these cells and the media formulations will kickstart immediate R&D work and enable studies to be run in small bioreactors, which can help researchers refine process development. Plus, their availability reduces redundancies and spurs innovation through research collaborations, and benefits B2B players like media and scaffold suppliers and bioreactor and equipment manufacturers.

    “Talk about a win-win-win,” said Hildebrand. “This type of open-access jumpstart invites more people to the field, gives everyone a better starting position, and ultimately can produce more winners – companies that get more products to consumer plates, and consumers who have more choices for foods they love.”

    Tufts said the cell bank will offer shared-use prototyping and scale-up research facilities, incubator lab space for startups to co-locate, and a network of experts to accelerate cellular agriculture development globally. The university is currently raising capital to build out its infrastructure to acquire and develop additional cells, including bovine, mackerel, and pork lines.

    Researchers interested in the cell lines can now join a waitlist, while the media formulations are already available online. “We are essentially composting intellectual property, or IP, from an individual start-up and transforming it into a public good to benefit the entire field,” said Tufts’s Zassenhaus.

    “This model of IP reuse makes sense for all kinds of technologies even beyond alternative proteins, especially as climate tech broadly faces a contraction in funding,” she added.

    The post GFI Buys SciFi Foods’s Cell Lines, Releases Them to Advance Cultivated Meat Research appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Cultivated Consolidation: France’s Gourmey Acquires Vital Meat to Form Parima

    parima cultivated meat
    4 Mins Read

    France’s Gourmey has snapped up Vital Meat to form Parima, aiming to become the first cultivated protein company to get regulatory approval for two species.

    In the latest consolidation move for alternative proteins, Paris-based Gourmey has acquired fellow French cultivated meat firm Vital Meat, combining their tech, regulatory and manufacturing prowess under a new entity, Parima.

    The company combines Gourmey’s cultivated duck platform (which has spawned a foie gras product) with Vital Meat’s cultured chicken technology, which are collectively the subject of nine active regulatory filings across the world.

    “Parima represents a new chapter, a unified platform built to lead the next generation of animal production, spanning multiple species and market applications, from premium to mass market. It’s about creating abundance through efficiency and scale,” Parima CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest tells Green Queen.

    Vital Meat’s team is joining Parima, including co-founder Etienne Duthoit, who is taking up a leadership role. “We’re expanding our site presence in France,” adds Morin-Forest.

    “Gourmey remains the group’s culinary brand, focused on premium products, chef collaborations, and established partnerships with leading gourmet distributors serving the world’s top restaurants and hotels,” he says. The brand’s demand from leading restaurants will “remain a key differentiator” as Parima expands across multiple species and applications.

    Gourmey and Vital Meat to combine production at French facilities

    vital meat
    Courtesy: Vital Meat

    Gourmey made a splash in the future food world when it announced regulatory submissions in five geographies last year, including the first ever in the EU. It has created a foie gras product using cultured duck cells, which has been endorsed by Michelin-starred chefs, and has been working on chicken too.

    The startup’s platform leverages a “second-generation” tech stack that replaces legacy biopharma techniques with food-grade, cost-effective, scalable processes. It combines continuous production, undifferentiated cell biomass, and suspension-based cell cultures to support efficiency and consistency.

    In June, Gourmey partnered with AI specialist DeepLife to develop the world’s first avian digital twin to optimise production of its cultivated meat, shortly after analysis revealed that its 5,000-litre bioreactor system can bring costs down to $3.43 per lb.

    Vital Meat, meanwhile, makes cultivated chicken using cell-line technology developed from nearly 25 years of avian cell research at Groupe Grimaud, a global animal genetics leader. The startup filed for approval in Singapore in late 2023, and in the UK in summer 2024. And months later, it held a public tasting at Hue restaurant in Singapore.

    Gourmey currently operates an innovation centre and a pilot facility in central Paris, where it runs multiple 400-litre bioreactors. It also has a dedicated setup with a 5,000-litre fermenter. Likewise, Vital Meat has a pilot plant near Nantes, equipped with 2,000-litre bioreactors that are run daily.

    Following the acquisition, both sites will remain operational. “Together, they form a fully integrated end-to-end platform, covering cell line and process development, scale-up, and culinary innovation. Our combined bioreactor capacity reaches several thousand litres,” Morin-Forest highlights.

    Parima expects regulatory nod in ‘next few months’

    lab grown foie gras
    Gourmey’s foie gras is made from cultivated duck cells | Courtesy: Sherry Hack

    Parima has over 15 patent families and more than 70 applications, alongside regulatory filings in various geographies. “They cover the EU, where we’re the first and most advanced; the UK, where the Vital Meat and Gourmey dossiers are the two most advanced; Switzerland; Singapore, where both companies have active applications; the US; Australia; and another country we’re not disclosing yet,” says Morin-Forest.

    Each company’s dossiers will continue under their existing procedures, and in an interview with Green Queen this summer, the Gourmey co-founder had said it was expecting approval in Singapore first.

    “We anticipate the first market authorisations within the next few months,” Morin-Forest says now. “We’re aiming to become the first European cultivated meat company to get approved, and the first ever company with approval for two species: duck and chicken.”

    Over the next 12 months, the company’s focus is on “execution, advancing regulatory approvals, scaling our production systems, and preparing our first market launches”.

    “Our culinary brand, Gourmey, is grounded in B2B readiness, with strong culinary validation (we launched the industry’s first-ever culinary advisory board, bringing together Michelin-starred chefs Claude Le Tohic, Rasmus Munk and Daniel Calvert), global demand, and commercial partnerships already in place,” he says.

    Since September 2024, more than 40 alternative protein companies have ceased trading, fallen into insolvency, or been acquired, partly a reflection of the industry’s struggles to fundraise. This year, cultivated fat maker Upstream Foods and cell culture tech firm CellRev shut down, while Uncommon Bio sold off its cultivated meat platform to Meatable and Vow to focus on therapeutics instead.

    “After the initial hype, consolidation is the natural next step for our industry,” contends Morin-Forest. “A handful of leaders with the most scalable IP, the strongest products, and global regulatory market access will prevail. That’s what Parima is about.”

    The post Cultivated Consolidation: France’s Gourmey Acquires Vital Meat to Form Parima appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Cultivated Salmon, Carbon Butter & Mycoprotein Named Time’s Best Inventions of 2025

    5 Mins Read

    Time Magazine has released its annual list of the world’s best inventions, recognising a range of alternative protein and future food innovations.

    From fish grown in bioreactors to butter made from carbon, some of this year’s most exciting food tech innovations have made it to Time Magazine’s list of the Best Inventions of 2025.

    The annual publication has been expanded to include 300 products and technologies, the biggest in its 25-year history. The magazine sought nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, with special attention paid to growing fields like AI and healthcare.

    Each innovation was evaluated on a range of factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. The honourees span a multitude of categories, including food and drink, agriculture, sustainability, green tech, and social impact.

    When it comes to food tech, the 2025 list features innovations like cultivated seafood, animal- and plant-free butter, vegan gummies, mycoprotein, and more.

    Wildtype, Savor, and The Better Meat Co among 2025 honourees

    wildtype salmon
    Courtesy: Wildtype

    One of the headline inventions named by Time this year is the cultivated coho salmon saku by Californian startup Wildtype. The product received regulatory approval from the FDA this year, and has since appeared on the menus of restaurants in six states.

    The company was the first to sell cultivated seafood anywhere in the world, and has joined forces with cultivated chicken maker Upside Foods to sue Texas over its ban on these proteins.

    California is, in fact, home to several food tech startups on Time’s Best Inventions list. This includes Savor, which transforms point-captured carbon dioxide, green hydrogen, and methane into agriculture-free fats that can replace dairy and palm oil.

    It launched its carbon-derived butter this year, working with the patisserie of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred outpost, One65, to sell bonbons and cookies. Savor has also partnered with fellow Michelin-starred eateries SingleThread and Atelier Crenn, and beloved establishment Jane the Bakery. And it’s now raising a Series B round to build a 10,000-tonne facility.

    Speaking of fundraisers, in August, West Sacramento-based The Better Meat Co secured $31M in Series A funding for its Rhiza mycoprotein, a whole-biomass ingredient offering complete protein and high digestibility. Recognised on Time’s list, it is produced by feeding microbes on sorghum and potato sidestreams, and is on course to beat commodity beef prices next year.

    better meat co
    Courtesy: The Better Meat Co

    Rhiza can be used in vegan and blended meat applications, and is already sold to Hormel Foods, Maple Leaf Foods, K12 caterer SFE, and plant-based salmon maker Oshi. The company has secured five agreements from major meat producers in North America, South America and Asia, which are set to bring $13M in annual revenue.

    Meanwhile, Swedish firm Orkla Snacks’s vegan foamy gummies, called Bubs, went viral on social media last year, causing an unexpected supply shortage. Now, four new flavours have been launched in the US, made from the same proprietary recipe and manufacturing technique that earned it a spot on Time’s list.

    In the experimental category of the Best Inventions list, Time namechecked a cultivated chicken that made international headlines. University of Tokyo researchers created a nugget-sized piece of meat via a hollow fibre bioreactor, opening possibilities to grow whole cuts of cultivated meat, the industry’s holy grail.

    Time Magazine’s list also featured 100 special mentions, and among them is Texas-based artisanal dairy-free brand Rebel Cheese, which uses “cave ageing and proprietary cultures to better match the flavours of their dairy counterparts”.

    Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Alpro named World’s Best Brands

    impossible burger new york
    Courtesy: Impossible Foods

    This week, Time Magazine also released its annual list of the World’s Best Brands, which aims to guide consumers to make more informed decisions and navigate through the brands available in each category.

    The publication works with Statista to identify the top brands in the US, the UK, Germany, and Mexico, based on surveys of over 90,000 consumers in each country (India and Brazil will be added in December).

    A weighted overall score based on brand awareness (15%), social buzz (10%), likability (30%), usage (15%), and loyalty (30%) was calculated for each brand in the 72 categories. The top-rated entry’s overall score was set at 100, and the scores of the following brands were adjusted accordingly.

    In the US, Silk was named the top plant-based milk brand, followed by Almond Breeze, Chobani, Planet Oat, and Califia Farms. Likewise, Chobani topped the overall yoghurt category (it makes both dairy and plant-based versions), and Silk’s fully dairy-free yoghurts were third.

    When it came to meat alternatives, Kellanova-owned MorningStar Farms was recognised as the best brand in the US, followed closely by Beyond Meat (with a score of 98.2) and Impossible Foods (92). Field Roast and Gardein rounded out the top five.

    plant based milk sales
    Courtesy: Alpro

    In the UK, Alpro was named as the best plant-based milk brand in 2025 by Time, with Oatly close behind. Califia Farms, Rude Health and Koko were also on the list, but the gap between the scores is sizeable. Alpro was also fifth in the overall yoghurt segment. Meanwhile, market-leading Quorn was the best meat-free brand, a list also featuring Linda McCartney, Beyond Meat, Amy’s Kitchen, and Cauldron Foods.

    Alpro’s dominance of the non-dairy milk market continued in Germany, where it was trailed by Alnatura, Oatly, KoRo and Bio Primo. Rügenwalder Mühle won the honour of the best meat alternative brand, with Green Cuisine, Alnatura, Beyond Meat, and Nestlé’s Garden Gourmet also on the list.

    Finally, in Mexico, local company César Soya was named the best brand of meat analogues, followed by Gardein, fellow Mexican firm Soi-yah!, Loma Linda, and Beyond Meat.

    The post Cultivated Salmon, Carbon Butter & Mycoprotein Named Time’s Best Inventions of 2025 appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • When It Comes to Meat Alternatives, These Are the Proteins Consumers Like Best

    plant based meat consumer acceptance
    5 Mins Read

    A new study analysed several plant-based, algae-derived and cultivated protein sources for meat alternatives to find consumers’ favourite ingredients.

    Are you more into pea protein burgers or rice protein nuggets? Or perhaps you’re more likely to bite into a cultivated sausage?

    As food tech opens up possibilities to make meat alternatives with a wide range of ingredients, it can be hard to get the product mix right. What tastes good, and is it healthy and climate-friendly to boot?

    It’s a question that formed the basis of a new survey by ETH Zürich, the public university in the Swiss capital, which asked nearly 2,000 participants from four European countries about their preferred alternative protein sources.

    “Certain protein sources for use in meat alternatives have greater potential in terms of consumer acceptance than others,” the researchers wrote in the Appetite journal.

    “The findings indicate that familiarity and regional culinary traditions influence consumer preferences and should therefore be considered when developing meat alternatives to make them more attractive to consumers,” they added.

    Potatoes emerge as the tastiest source of meat alternatives

    best plant based meat
    Courtesy: Appetite

    Of the countries surveyed in the research, people in Serbia said they eat meat analogues most frequently, with nearly two in five consuming them at least once a week. This is followed by Italy (37%), Germany (24%), and Finland (21%).

    Except for Germany, where consumers eat traditional plant proteins just as frequently, participants in each of the other nations are more drawn to meat alternatives than tofu, falafels, and the like.

    When asked about the preferred protein sources for the best-tasting meat-free products, it was a two-horse race between eggs (most popular in Serbia and Finland) and potato protein (Italy and Germany)

    Rice and pea protein also received high scores in the poll, but the researchers found country-specific differences. For example, almonds were rated highly in Germany and Serbia, lentils in Italy, and oats in Finland. The study ascribed this to “local culinary traditions and exposure, which have been demonstrated to play a crucial role in food acceptance and preferences”.

    Cultivated beef was particularly well-rated by Germans, whose taste expectations for this protein were much higher than most other sources.

    On the flip side, insect protein from crickets received the lowest rating on the taste scale, followed by algae protein. Soy, one of the most common plant protein sources, received a low score in Germany, sunflower seeds in Finland, and rapeseed protein in Italy and Serbia.

    “The fact that these ingredients are widely produced across Europe, and thus well-known to most consumers, suggests that familiarity and exposure do not always lead to high acceptance rates,” the researchers noted.

    They added that the unfavourable attitude towards soy, meanwhile, could be due to factors like negative taste perceptions, associations with GMOs, and limited familiarity.

    Consumers are unconvinced by the health and sustainability of cultivated meat

    best vegan meat alternatives
    Courtesy: Appetite

    The findings around the perceived health and environmental impact of different protein sources were “less clear-cut”, though the scores were generally higher than those for taste.

    Some of the proteins with the highest taste expectations—such as potatoes, peas, lentils, and oats—were also those considered to be the healthiest and most eco-friendly. The study highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of cultivated beef, which was among the lowest-rated protein sources on this scale.

    “Participants in Germany and Finland were more critical of the environmental friendliness of protein sources than participants in Italy and Serbia,” the study stated.

    The one area where eggs didn’t do as well as the rest was health. Potatoes stood out as the healthiest meat alternative source for respondents, with peas following closely behind.

    Most consumers highlighted rice protein among the healthiest sources, though Germans ranked it on the lower end. Instead, these consumers viewed almonds, oats, lentils and faba beans as healthier. Further highlighting the country-wide differences, oats scored high in Finland and Serbia too, while Italians viewed almonds and lentils more favourably.

    Rice and soy are viewed as the least healthy plant-based protein sources in Finland, and the same goes for soy in Germany. Across Europe, the ingredient most consistently perceived as less healthy is cultivated beef, highlighting the work this industry needs to do in communicating the benefits of these products.

    “Since cultured meat aims to mimic the sensory properties of meat, this similarity could be perceived as a positive attribute,” the researchers wrote. “However, the acceptance of cultured meat varies across cultures and, in certain countries, the perceived unnaturalness and disgust evoked by cultured meat represent significant barriers.”

    lab grown meat consumer acceptance
    Courtesy: Appetite

    Food tech neophobia affects tofu more than vegan meat

    ETH Zürich’s research further revealed that young Europeans were more likely to consume both traditional plant proteins and modern meat alternatives. In Finland and Serbia, men tend to eat these products more than women (there was no significant difference in Germany or Italy).

    The study also looked at the effect of food tech neophobia, finding that people with low levels of neophobia were more likely to consume tofu, tempeh, and other traditional sources in all countries except Serbia.

    In contrast, food neophobia did not significantly affect the consumption of meat alternatives in Finland, Italy, and Serbia, though it was a significant predictor for the consumption of both traditional and modern plant proteins in Germany.

    This conflicts with previous research showing that neophobia is a barrier to meat analogues with the study’s authors suggesting its greater effect on tofu and falafels could be due to the prevalence of these foods in non-European cuisines. “In contrast, plant-based mince, burgers, and chunks are designed to mimic familiar meat products, thereby potentially reducing the impact of food neophobia.”

    Regardless, the protein source “exerts a significant influence” on consumer acceptance of meat alternatives and must be considered in new product development, the researchers argued.

    “Strategic selection and labelling of already accepted protein sources by product developers and marketers has the potential to enhance the appeal of meat alternatives and facilitate their wider acceptance,” they noted.

    “To achieve broader acceptance, the taste and texture of plant-based meat alternatives must be improved and aligned with consumer preferences.”

    The post When It Comes to Meat Alternatives, These Are the Proteins Consumers Like Best appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • With Fresh Funding, ImpacFat Eyes 2026 Cosmetics Launch for Cultivated Fish Fat in Asia

    impacfat
    4 Mins Read

    Singaporean startup ImpacFat has secured fresh financing to fuel its Asian commercialisation plans for cultivated omega-3 fish fat.

    ImpacFat, a Singapore-based biotech firm producing fish fats from cell cultures, has expanded into Japan and raised new capital to launch the ingredient into cosmetic formulations next year.

    The startup has received investment from Japanese packaging giant Toyo Seikan Group, Singaporean VC firm 144 Ventures, and Lin Xiangliang, the CEO of Esco Aster (which operates the world’s first regulator-approved contract manufacturing facility for cultivated meat).

    The seed funding round is in its final stages as the company negotiates with a potential lead investor, so for now, the sum is undisclosed.

    “We believe that ImpacFat’s development of functional ingredients derived from fish fat cells, rich in nutrients such as DHA and EPA, can meet the rising global awareness of food security and the growing demand for healthy and delicious food,” said Toyo Seikan president Takuji Nakamura.

    “Toyo Seikan Group will leverage its core technologies in sterilisation and moisture/gas barrier to build, together with ImpacFat, a value chain that maximises the potential of cell-cultured fish fat.”

    ImpacFat targets cosmetics debut with cultivated fish fat

    lab grown fish fat
    Courtesy: ImpacFat

    Founded in 2019 by CEO Mandy Hon and Shigeki Sugii, ImpacFat’s technology is based on extensive research published by the latter, a stem cell biologist and principal investigator at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

    The startup makes cell-based fish fat high in omega-3 fatty acids. “[We] focus on wellness as a whole, which includes skincare, omega-3 supplements and alternative foods [like] plant-based meat [and] cultivated meat,” Hon tells Green Queen.

    ImpacFat isolates cells from premium fish species like eels and pangasius catfish, developing cell lines that help them proliferate in controlled environments in bioreactors. These mature into healthy fat cells, which are then harvested.

    The resulting ingredient is high in unsaturated fat and omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, it outperforms wild-caught bluefin tuna on omega-3 levels.

    “We are focusing on selling our omega-3 cultivated fish fat as an ‘ingredient’, and making hybrid products for foodservice and retail,” explains Hon, highlighting the B2B model. “For alternative food, we are currently working with many close partners, which include Toyo Seikan Group, Esco Aster Singapore, Fuji Oil, etc.”

    Its current production capacity involves five-litre bioreactors, and the firm is in the middle of expanding to a 10- to 50-litre scale. “We are also working with contract manufacturing partners in scaling up,” she says.

    ImpacFat’s first foray into the market will come in the personal care industry. The startup is working on stem-cell conditioned media and exosome-based active ingredients for skin rejuvenation, anti-oxidation, and anti-ageing formulations. It is targeting a 2026 rollout in Singapore and South Korea’s cosmetics markets.

    “We will also be looking for product development and commercialisation of skincare products in Japan in 2026, [and] subsequently food and supplements,” says Hon.

    Cultivated meat and pet food products are already in the works

    lab grown fish fat
    Courtesy: ImpacFat

    ImpacFat’s ingredient adds a rich, savoury profile to seafood alternatives, delivering the taste and mouthfeel consumers often find missing in these innovations, and boosting the omega-3 content (a key pain point for these products).

    Singapore is its first market for food applications, given that Japan is still in the process of developing its regulatory guidelines. ImpacFat submitted its novel food dossier to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in December 2024. “We are currently going through the review process with the SFA closely,” says Hon.

    But any launch for human food and omega-3 supplements is, for now, earmarked for 2027. It’s gunning for a 2026-27 launch in the pet food arena, offering safer products free from microplastics, mercury and other marine pollutants. ImpacFat has signed an MoU for pet food product development and manufacturing.

    The startup was inspired by Singapore’s 30 by 30 target, which aimed to produce 30% of the city-state’s food supply locally (currently, over 90% is imported). ImpacFat’s foray into Japan will contribute to its food security goals too, tapping into what the firm labels “one of the world’s most sophisticated markets for seafood and health supplements”.

    By setting up research and operational infrastructure within Tokyo, it’s looking to work closely with local partners, researchers, and ecosystem players and speed up the adoption of cell-cultured tech in Japan.

    ImpacFat will use the funds to scale up production, expand applications, and accelerate its market entry plans. “In 2026, we have a couple of R&D [projects] together with various key partners, including upcoming plans for cultivated fish fat scale-up, [… and] product development with plant-based meat,” says Hon.

    It is one of several startups developing cell-cultured fats. California’s Mission Barns is already selling its cultivated pork fat in the US, while Dutch firm Mosa Meat is awaiting approval for its beef fat in various European markets. In Singapore, Ants Innovate showcased Cell Essence, a cultivated pork oil for hybrid meats, in a private tasting last year.

    The post With Fresh Funding, ImpacFat Eyes 2026 Cosmetics Launch for Cultivated Fish Fat in Asia appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Aleph Farms CEO on Cultivated Meat Launch & Regulatory Plans for UAE & EU

    aleph farms
    9 Mins Read

    Aleph Farms CEO Didier Toubia on why the cultivated meat firm hasn’t launched yet, its plans for the UAE, its ongoing fundraise, and comparisons with the dotcom bubble.

    It has been 21 months since Aleph Farms was approved to sell cultivated beef in Israel, 15 months since it laid off 30% of its staff, and six months since it raised $7.5M in the first closing of a fresh funding round.

    A rollercoaster would be a good way to describe the startup’s previous two years, which included regulatory applications in Switzerland, the UK, and Thailand, and a $21.5M via a SAFE that converted earlier this year.

    It is one of the longest-standing cultivated meat companies around. Whether cultivated meat is a technology trigger, at its peak of inflated expectations, or under the current trough of disillusionment in the Gartner hype cycle, Aleph Farms has been there for the whole ride.

    Now, the industry is fast-approaching the next stage: the slope of enlightenment. Aiming to lead the way is what co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia calls “Aleph Farms 2.0”.

    “Aleph Farms today is very different from the Aleph Farms of 2021-22,” he tells me. “We implemented a lot of changes… to make sure that Aleph Farms is actually in the best position to lead this new category for cultivated meat.”

    In 2023, the model of the cultivated meat industry was to go big and fast—expand scale at all costs and launch as quickly as possible. As capital costs increased and investors became more risk-averse, Aleph Farms began focusing on profitability instead by becoming leaner and more capital-efficient.

    “We have paused our investments in large plants and big facilities, and postponed our launch to really take the time first to reduce our costs, improve the scalability of our platform, and build the foundations right before we expand,” says Toubia.

    He adds that the layoffs last year were part of this – today, the firm has around 40 employees. Moreover, it has decided to recede from the US, instead prioritising smaller markets with lower volumes first. This would help reach profitability faster, which in turn would make it easier to raise money.

    Regulatory updates and plans for UAE and EU

    uk cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    Toubia says Aleph Farms is likely the most advanced company in the regulatory approval processes in Switzerland and the UK (where at least four others have filed). In the latter country, the firm is part of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) regulatory sandbox, and was the first to reach the ‘validation’ and ‘suitability’ phases, leaving it three steps away from approval.

    “The FSA in the UK is very professional, and I think they’ve really taken to this issue proactively,” he says. “There are good chances that they would actually be the next to prove a cultivated meat product. Of course, I hope it will be Aleph Farms. But, you know, any approval is good for the industry.”

    The startup’s filing in Singapore predates these applications. The city-state was the first to clear cultivated meat for sale (back in 2020), and has since issued another approval. Aleph Farms – like a dozen or two others, according to Toubia – is still awaiting a decision.

    “It has been delayed for a bunch of reasons,” he says. “After being the first country to approve cultivated meat at the time, they really want to make sure that they are not perceived as a country where it is easy to get approvals.”

    The raft of applications has put a strain too. Toubia believes many companies that have filed for approval don’t actually intend to conduct business in Singapore – they just thought it would be easy to get clearance.

    “We do see Singapore as a hub for Asia,” he argues. “We’re big believers in Singapore. We believe that the potential is great and that it’s a great footprint for us in Asia. So we remain very committed and excited about the opportunity in Singapore.”

    Further, Toubia reveals that Aleph Farms plans to pursue regulatory approval in the EU (where two companies have already filed), as well as the UAE, which would be an entirely new region of focus for cultivated meat.

    “We have a strong agenda in terms of food security at Aleph Farms, which is raising a lot of interest, essentially because of the geopolitical tensions, tariffs and disruptions of supply chains globally, especially for animal proteins,” he explains.

    Aleph Farms optimises tech and production strategy

    aleph farms facility
    Aleph Farms operates a 65,000 sq ft facility in Rehovot, Israel | Courtesy: Amit Goren/Aleph Farms

    Speaking of approvals, when Aleph Farms earned the green light in Israel, it was contingent upon clearing a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspection for its production facility. That is still pending, though the company has transferred its production onto its new “platform 1.2”.

    This is an optimised, simplified version of its initial tech, with faster timelines, greater efficiency, and fewer steps. “We are now in the process of completing the GMP and all the other certifications to be able to start producing commercially with this new platform,” says Toubia.

    “We want to make sure that when we launch, we have continuity in the delivery of products,” he adds. “We’ve seen in the industry that sometimes, launching a product which is very expensive, not available, then pulling it back from the market is actually doing more harm than good.”

    A recent independent analysis showed that Aleph Farms’s cultivated steak could be produced at $6.45 per lb and sold in wholesale for $12.25, generating annual net profits of $78.5M. With further process enhancement, the cost of goods sold could fall to just $4.08 per lb.

    The firm operates a 65,000 sq ft plant in Rehovot, Israel (with a capacity to initially produce 10 tonnes of cultivated steak annually),  has signed a co-manufacturing deal with Singapore’s ESCO Aster, and is building a factory in Thailand with biotech firms BBGI and Fermbox Bio.

    Moreover, this month, Aleph Farms teamed up with The Cultured Hub, a biotech facility situated in The Valley in Kemptthal, Switzerland, to produce cultivated meat. It’s meant to be a regional hub that serves as a “cornerstone” for expanding capacity in Europe.

    “We’re walking the talk, building and setting up production capacities closer to our markets, and taking operations out of Israel. It also demonstrates the feasibility of our strategy for relying on partners for production,” says Toubia. “The plan with The Cultured Hub is to use the existing plant in the capital, but also to further explore opportunities to operate additional, larger-scale plants, with a focus on Europe.”

    Where would these be located? “It could be, of course, in Switzerland, but [we’re] also looking at opportunities in the UK and in Eastern Europe.”

    ‘Indulgent like beef, healthy like chicken breast’

    lab grown meat approved
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    It’s not just the production process that Aleph Farms is fine-tuning. “We’ve also done a lot of work on the product itself,” says Toubia. “I think that it’s important to get the product right, at the right price and to the right consumer – more important than the technology itself.”

    He continues: “That’s something that sometimes other cultivated meat companies are not necessarily spending enough time on. There’s a lot of focus on technology and not necessarily on getting the product right.

    “People will not buy a product just because it’s a cool product made by an advanced technology. Aleph Farms is the only company cleared today [to sell] cultivated beef products with natural cells – not immortalised, not GMO – as whole cuts.”

    The firm’s first product is a Black Angus Petit Steak, and it’s working on a thicker steak too. “We’ve done a lot of work to really focus on trends for proteins… providing an optimised nutritional profile for the product that’s high in protein, low in calories and fat, high in micronutrients, to really target this segment of the market,” he says.

    Another trend that’s amplified of late (thanks to the rise of GLP-1 drugs) is healthy indulgence. “A lot of people today want to eat less, but want the portions to be both indulgent and tasty and healthy at the same time,” he explains.

    “And today, beef is considered indulgent and tasty, but not as healthy, for instance, as chicken breast, just because it’s heavier to digest, and richer in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Our goal is to deliver a new product that is healthy like a chicken breast, but indulgent like a beef fillet.”

    Toubia says this is a new niche that would appeal to several consumer groups: “We need to make sure we’re targeting a segment large enough to really drive scale-up and traction in the market.”

    Aleph Farms looking to raise up to $25M by year-end

    aleph farms eyal shani
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    To date, Aleph Farms has raised $147M, including the $29M it announced from the SAFE conversion and new funding. Now, it’s working on a second closing of the latter round by the end of the year, targeting a cumulative raise of $20-25M (including the $7.5M from March).

    “The refocus away from scale into building a profitable business also implies a plan where we intend to raise much less money than the plans we had in 2021-22, because today, investors really want to see capital efficiency,” says Toubia.

    “They want companies with less capital to reach more significant milestones and become profitable. So relying on external partners for the production is also where to minimise all direct investment in capex and equipment.”

    Aleph Farms has a three-phase plan to maintain its leadership in the industry. The first stage is centred on growth foundations, with the business aiming to launch products with restaurant partners in Israel and Singapore by 2027, as well as achieving positive gross margins.

    The second phase focuses on profitability between 2027 and 2028, and involves expansion in Asia-Pacific and the EU, building capacity, and garnering government support and offtake agreements.

    It’s only after 2028, in the third phase, that Aleph will go all-in on scale. The company aims to launch in the US and Japan, while introducing new products and entering premium retail stores.

    Cultivated meat akin to the dotcom bubble

    lab grown beef
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    Toubia compares the cultivated meat sector to the dotcom bubble of the late 90s. “We saw a lot of companies raising a lot of money and valuations going to the sky. A lot of junk and not very good companies were funded, with a strong focus at the time on scale and gaining a user base, rather than focusing on profit,” he recalls.

    Then came the crash, with the value of the Nasdaq index sinking by 78%. “Companies were able to really rethink their business and their focus on building real, profitable businesses,” he says. Those who did – Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft among them – emerged from the slump and own the market today.

    “It’s not a perfect analogy, but the same process is happening with complementary proteins,” he says. In 2020-21, a lot of money flowed into the space, but capital in this sector has shrunk alarmingly in the years since.

    “After this excess of 2020, we’ve seen an opposite kind of excessive situation where, in 2023-24, many investors stopped completely investing in the space,” he explains. “Today, we’ve started seeing a kind of a rebound of the sector, which is much more rational and focused on… analysis of the fundamentals of the companies.

    “In the next five years, we see a smaller group of companies really emerging as the category leaders. And those companies would be the ones which understand the market and the consumer, which are developing the right product at the right price for the right consumers, which are going to maintain the costs and focus on operational efficiency,” says Toubia.

    “I believe Aleph Farms will be part of those few leaders emerging from the last two years of downturn.”

    The post Aleph Farms CEO on Cultivated Meat Launch & Regulatory Plans for UAE & EU appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Aleph Farms Sets Sights on Europe with Cultivated Beef Facility in Switzerland

    aleph farms switzerland
    4 Mins Read

    Israeli food tech pioneer Aleph Farms has struck a deal to produce its cultivated meat in Europe, setting up at The Cultured Hub facility in Kemptthal.

    As it awaits regulatory approval in Switzerland, Aleph Farms has chosen the canton of Zurich as the European production hub for its cultivated beef.

    The Israeli startup has teamed up with The Cultured Hub, a biotech facility situated in The Valley in Kemptthal, opened last year by retail giant Migros, flavour specialist Givaudan, and equipment manufacturer Bühler Group.

    The move is part of Aleph Farms’s localised production strategy, and marks a key milestone for its international expansion. It’s also an extension of the firm’s six-year-long strategic partnership with Migros, which supported the firm’s regulatory application to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office in 2023.

    “Our collaboration with The Cultured Hub builds on years of joint work to advance the regulatory and operational readiness of cultivated meat in Switzerland,” said Aleph Farms co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia.

    How Aleph Farms is charting its global footprint

    aleph farms facility
    Aleph Farms operates a 65,000 square foot facility in Rehovot, Israel. Courtesy: Amit Goren/Aleph Farms

    Aleph Farms’s signature offering is the Petit Steak, a hybrid meat product combining non-modified, non-immortalised cells of a premium Black Angus cow with a plant protein matrix made of soy and wheat.

    The firm has already received regulatory clearance in Israel, though this was contingent on the company clearing a Good Manufacturing Practices inspection for its production facility, on which there has been no public update yet.

    Additionally, it has filed for approval in Singapore, the UK, Thailand, and Switzerland, and is engaged in advanced pre-submission consultations in countries including the US. It plans to eventually expand into Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, and Hong Kong too.

    This strategy would give way to a complex supply chain, so setting up facilities in local hotspots would help Aleph Farms streamline its manufacturing and distribution. It currently operates a 65,000 sq ft plant in Rehovot, Israel (with a capacity to initially produce 10 tonnes of cultivated steak annually), and has acquired another factory in Modi’in.

    Elsewhere, the startup has signed a co-manufacturing deal with Singapore’s ESCO Aster (the first approved cultivated meat facility globally), and is building a factory in Thailand with biotech firms BBGI and Fermbox Bio.

    The Swiss facility is an extension of this approach, and will allow Aleph Farms to create a long-term partnership framework for production in the canton of Zurich, with the potential for future expansion into other European markets.

    Aleph Farms will prepare for commercial launch with Swiss facility

    the cultured hub
    The Cultured Hub is located in The Valley business park | Courtesy: The Valley

    Opened in December, The Cultured Hub aims to speed up the development and commercialisation of cellular agriculture products. It’s equipped with advanced production development labs, as well as cell culture and fermentation capabilities and equipment.

    The hub can host three companies at a time, which can work simultaneously in fully separated suites. Producers can scale up from small lab experiments to 1,000-litre pilot operations without investing in expensive assets or diluting equity. This helps accelerate market entry by saving time and resources, and allowing the entities to focus on creating the optimal food products at competitive costs.

    “We believe the future of food depends on cross-industry collaboration to create impact at scale,” said Fabio Campanile, chairman of The Cultured Hub and head of science and tech at Givaudan. “We are confident that we can provide the infrastructure, services, and networks needed to bring great new products to market by combining Aleph’s innovation and expertise with our platform.”

    The establishment of Aleph Farms’s Swiss operations is supported by the regional administration. “The company strengthens Zurich’s position as a hub for innovation and brings fresh momentum to the growing Zurich food ecosystem, which includes the Food Hub in Wädenswil and nearly 11,000 businesses across the canton,” said Carmen Walker Späh, the canton’s economic affairs councillor.

    According to Aleph Farms, the collaboration supports the startup’s goal of decentralising production and boosting Switzerland’s domestic meat supply – currently, 20% of its beef is imported. It will further help the startup prepare for its commercial launch through relevant distribution channels, once it’s cleared to sell.

    “This partnership allows us to execute our global strategy in the best possible way – one that is both capital-efficient and deeply embedded in the local market,” said Toubia.

    It comes months after the firm secured $29M in the first closing of a larger funding round, taking its total investment to nearly $150M. And last week, an independent analysis showed that Aleph Farms’s steak could be produced at $6.45 per lb and sold in wholesale for $12.25, generating annual net profits of $78.5M. With further process enhancement, the cost of goods sold could fall to just $4.08 per lb.

    The post Aleph Farms Sets Sights on Europe with Cultivated Beef Facility in Switzerland appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Why Upside Foods & Wildtype Are Suing Texas for Its Cultivated Meat Ban

    lab grown meat texas
    7 Mins Read

    A day after Texas’s ban on cultivated meat came into force, two food tech startups sued the state for its decision. Their legal team explains why.

    When Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a law to ban cultivated meat in the state, companies had just over two months before it went into effect.

    In that period, Wildtype, a US startup approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell cultivated salmon nationwide, debuted its product at Otoko, an omakase restaurant in Austin known for its blend of Tokyo-style sushi and Kyoto-style kaiseki.

    “Farm-raised salmon creates so much pollution, so it’s not sustainable. You want to enjoy seafood long-term, so Wildtype’s good because you don’t have to kill the fish anymore,” chef-owner Yoshi Okai said. “It’s something new. It’s awesome.”

    The eatery was one of Wildtype’s first launch partners, alongside outposts in Oregon, California, Washington, and Colorado. “We had selected Otoko and chef Yoshi Okai for a number of reasons, many months before this ban was floated in Texas,” co-founder and CEO Justin Kolbeck tells Green Queen.

    “Following our launch in July, we had planned to build on our momentum in Austin by making Wildtype available to a number of seafood restaurants across Texas, including in Dallas and Houston, but this bill closed those markets to us,” he says.

    Before Texas’s ban was even discussed by policymakers, Upside Foods – a cultivated meat startup approved to sell both by the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture – sold limited amounts of its first chicken product at a “well-attended private event” during the 2024 South by Southwest conference in Austin.

    “The company is preparing for a larger-scale commercial launch of its new chicken products in the coming months,” says Upside Foods general counsel Myra Pasek. “Texas businesses – both restaurants and grocery stores – have expressed serious interest in selling Upside chicken in Texas. With the ban in effect, these sales would be prohibited.”

    These missed opportunities have driven Wildtype and Upside Foods to join forces with the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that the state’s SB 261 is “unconstitutional”.

    wildtype salmon where to buy
    Wildtype was selling its cultivated salmon at Yoshi Okai’s Otoko restaurant in Austin before Texas’s ban | Courtesy: Wildtype

    What clauses is Texas allegedly violating?

    In the legal complaint, the Institute for Justice noted that the law wasn’t passed to protect the health and safety of consumers, since it allows the distribution of cultivated meat as long as it isn’t sold.

    “Instead, SB 261 was enacted to stifle the growth of the cultivated meat industry to protect Texas’s conventional agricultural industry from innovative competition that is exclusively based outside of Texas,” it said.

    It argues that Texas’s ban violates the Commerce and Supremacy Clauses of the US Constitution. Under the former’s dormant clause, the federal government has exclusive power to regulate interstate commerce, with states having limited power to interfere. It’s designed to prohibit economic protectionism that benefits in-state interests.

    The Supremacy Clause, meanwhile, makes the Constitution and federal laws the highest law of the land. The decisions by two federal departments to allow Wildtype and Upside Foods to sell products in the interstate market supersede any contrary state laws.

    “Texas’s law is unconstitutional because it was enacted for the purpose, and has the effect, of protecting in-state economic interests from out-of-state competition. That sort of discrimination violates the Commerce Clause,” explains Paul Sherman, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice.

    “Second, as to Upside, Texas’s law is preempted by federal law. The Poultry Product Inspection Act prohibits states from imposing rules on the permissible ingredients in poultry products – or the manner in which they’re produced – that differ from or exceed federal standards,” he notes.

    “The USDA has given Upside the green light to manufacture chicken products from cultivated cells. Texas has said Upside can’t sell products containing cultivated cells. That’s not allowed.”

    florida bans lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Kevin Martin Galante/Upside Foods

    Texas’s cultivated meat ban is ‘pure economic protectionism’

    Texas is one of seven states to have banned cultivated meat. Florida was the first, and was at the end of a similar lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice on behalf of Upside Foods last year. Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Indiana, and Nebraska have also outlawed the sale of cultivated meat.

    So why choose Texas for the lawsuit instead of the others? “Texas is the second most populous state in the country. It’s an important market,” says Sherman. “And it’s one in which both Wildtype and Upside have distributed their products. A victory there would send a strong signal to other states that this sort of economic protectionism will not stand.”

    He confirms that the Institute for Justice is “monitoring legislative activity in all the states and will certainly consider filing other lawsuits if necessary”.

    All the states that have banned cultivated meat are led by Republican governors, and surveys have shown that cultivated meat acceptance skews lower among Americans who vote red. But Wildtype’s Kolbeck doesn’t think such legislation is driven by partisan politics.

    “This is pure economic protectionism,” he says. “There were countless points made during deliberations on this bill about protecting Texas ranchers. The complaint filed by the Institute for Justice provides examples. This law is all about keeping competition out of Texas. Wildtype was collateral damage.”

    Indeed, Texas is the top meat producer in the US – last year, it churned out 4.5 billion lbs of beef. The industry is the third-largest economic generator in the state. And in the run-up to the bill’s signing, SB 261’s sponsor, Senator Charles Perry, said the introduction of cultivated meat “could disrupt traditional livestock markets, affecting rural communities and family farms”.

    Likewise, Stan Gerdes, the bill’s lead sponsor in the House, said: “The goal of this bill is to protect our agriculture industry.”

    wildtype salmon
    Courtesy: Wildtype

    What happens next?

    The Institute for Justice isn’t stopping here. “We will be filing a motion for preliminary injunction asking the court to allow Wildtype and UPSIDE to continue selling their products in Texas while the case moves forward,” says Sherman “Our hope is that we can have a ruling on that before the end of the year.”

    It attempted a similar move in Florida, though a judge rejected the preliminary injunction, cancelling Upside Foods’s scheduled appearances at Art Basel and the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, and postponing its planned product launch at a restaurant in the state in early 2025.

    “Although the Florida court rejected our preemption claim, its reasoning was based on a misunderstanding of how the federal law works. Briefly, the court believed that state and federal requirements had to conflict, but the federal law prohibits even non-conflicting state requirements,” says Sherman.

    “Meanwhile, the [Texas] government is likely to file a motion to dismiss the case. We defeated a motion to dismiss in our Florida challenge, and we’re confident we can defeat one here,” he adds. “We have strong arguments. The district court in our Florida lawsuit has already held that the government will have a heavy burden to justify the law on our Commerce Clause claim.”

    lab grown meat lawsuit
    Wildtype co-founders Aryé Elfenbein and Justin Kolbeck | Courtesy: Wildtype

    Apart from harming cultivated meat producers’ financial dealings, Kolbeck suggests that the ban has a wider effect on public perception. “In addition to shutting down one of the very first places cultivated seafood was available for sale, proponents of the bill made misrepresentations about cultivated foods during deliberations, all of which harmed the reputation of our emerging industry,” he says.

    The case has been assigned to Judge Alan Albright, who Sherman says is known for moving cases quickly: “Our hope is we’ll have a ruling from the trial court on the merits no later than summer next year.” 

    Asked for an update on the Florida case, Sherman adds: “We’ll be having an argument in the 11th Circuit on November 3 about whether the trial court erred when it denied Upside’s motion for a preliminary injunction. Besides that, we’re moving forward with discovery in the trial court.”

    The post Why Upside Foods & Wildtype Are Suing Texas for Its Cultivated Meat Ban appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Exclusive: Mission Barns Launches Cultivated Pork in World-First Dinner

    mission barns
    6 Mins Read

    Californian startup Mission Barns sold its cultivated pork for the first time at a dinner in San Francisco, with dishes featuring its meatballs and bacon.

    On Tuesday evening in San Francisco’s Sunset District, a small group of diners gathered for the first sale of cultivated pork anywhere in the world.

    Food tech firm Mission Barns held the exclusive dinner at Fiorella, weeks after securing approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its cultivated pork fat. The event was the first of three pop-up dinners, convening six industry leaders and one sweepstakes winner.

    Fiorella served Mission Barns’s meatballs with Italian herbs and chilli, as well as in a Sicilian-inspired dish with raisins and pignoli, a creation of chef-owner Brandon Gillis. Diners also tried its Applewood-smoked bacon, which is layered with the startup’s cultivated fat.

    lab grown pork
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    “We put our full trust in Fiorella and chef Brandon, who has deep experience working with the best local, seasonal ingredients in a farm-to-table Italian style,” Mission Barns CEO Cecilia Chang tells Green Queen.

    “After we walked him through our products, he created a menu that showcases them in true Fiorella fashion,” she says. “One highlight is his take on our meatball – he broke it apart, seasoned it with classic Sicilian ingredients like currants and pine nuts, and reformed it into something entirely new, while still letting our cultivated pork shine.”

    Chang recently took over from Eitan Fischer as CEO to lead the company into its next phase of growth, with Fischer still actively involved as founder and board member.

    The inaugural dinner will be followed by another event on September 24, where eight guests chosen from the public will be invited to try the cultivated pork dishes.

    What goes into Mission Barns’s meatballs?

    mission barns bacon
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    Founded in 2018, Mission Barns uses belly fat cells from American Yorkshire pigs and grows them in bioreactors to make its Mission Fat. This fat is then mixed with plant-based ingredients to make meatballs, bacon, and more.

    This hybrid approach allows the startup to keep costs from soaring too high. And since fat is the primary flavour carrier in food, even a little bit goes a long way in replicating conventional meat.

    “The great thing about our cultivated fat ingredient is that we’ve found even at low inclusion rates (i.e., single-digit percentages), there’s a really noticeable improvement on taste and mouthfeel, and our products have been able to match conventional meat on blind taste tests with consumers,” says Chang.

    For example, the meatballs contain a base of pea protein and Mission Fat (which will appear on the label as a composition of purified water, cell-cultivated pork fat cells, and kosher salt).

    These are complemented by coconut oil, textured pea protein, Italian seasoning, and methylcellulose. In addition, the meatballs contain less than 2% of natural flavours and colours, sodium gluconate, salt, potato starch, red wine vinegar, lactic acid, xanthan gum, and liquid seasoning.

    Mission Barns is one of several startups taking the cultivated fat route. Hoxton Farms, Steakholder Foods, Genuine Taste, and Mosa Meat are doing the same – the latter has filed for regulatory approval in several geographies, including the EU, the UK, and Switzerland.

    lab grown meat restaurant
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    Restaurant rollout is a gateway for B2B strategy

    At Fiorella, Gillis was “blown away” by the cultivated pork fat. “It had that same rich, savoury depth you get from traditional pork, but with a much smaller footprint,” he recalls. “Working with them on this launch lets us create dishes that are both familiar and groundbreaking.”

    As part of its launch strategy, Mission Barns has been working with front-of-house teams to help engage and educate diners. “At our restaurant, we’re always looking for ways to honour tradition while embracing innovation,” says Isabella Hare, a server at Fiorella.

    “Partnering with Mission Barns allows us to introduce our guests to a groundbreaking ingredient that’s not only delicious but also more sustainable for the future of food,” she adds.

    lab grown pork
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    The three pop-up dinners had always been intended as a limited in-market test to gauge consumer response and gather valuable feedback, according to Chang.

    “While we’re excited to continue exploring opportunities with Fiorella and other chefs, our long-term strategy has always been B2B: licensing our technology so food partners and manufacturers can produce cultivated products at scale. These early sales and insights serve as proof points for potential partners,” she says.

    “We are having conversations with chefs and restaurants across several US cities,” she notes, but adds: “In the near term, our focus remains on scaling our bioreactor platform rather than expanding restaurant distribution.”

    The firm has designed a novel bioreactor technology that marks a departure from the single-cell suspension tanks of the biopharma sector, enabling more efficient, scalable, and cheaper production.

    mission barns funding
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    Cultivated meat bans ‘limit choice and economic opportunity’

    Aside from its restaurant rollout, Mission Barns has announced a listing with Sprouts Farmers Market, which will make it the first cultivated meat product to be sold in a US supermarket.

    In July, Chang told Green Queen that the company expects to roll out its meatballs at the retailer’s Oakland locations in Q3. “We’re working closely with Sprouts on timing, but we aren’t announcing specific rollout dates just yet,” she says now. “What we can share is that consumers in the Bay Area will be among the first in the country to find Mission Barns cultivated pork on grocery shelves.”

    Though its current focus is on the US, Mission Barns is keeping an eye on markets that align with the US regulatory process, like Singapore and other Asian countries. It has secured $60 million in funding to date, and will now attempt to raise more capital to support commercial scale-up, strategic licensing, and global expansion.

    “We are raising enough to fund our scale-up work for the next few years,” says Chang. “As everyone knows, the fundraising landscape for cultivated meat is a tough one right now.”

    Indeed, in 2023, funding for cultivated meat startups fell by 75%, followed by another 40% drop in 2024, reaching just $137M. And in the first half of this year, this total dropped even further to $35M.

    mission barns
    Courtesy: Mission Barns

    What will convince investors to bet on Mission Barns? “We have a differentiated approach focused on cultivated fat as a low-inclusion-rate flavouring ingredient, and our novel patented bioreactor has broad applications for products outside of just food – so that’s a really attractive point for investors,” highlights Chang.

    It has been a big year for cultivated meat in the US. Aside from Mission Barns, Wildtype and Believer Meats have both also received a ‘no questions’ letter from the Food and Drug Administration – Wildtype’s salmon is already being served in several restaurants now (as seafood isn’t regulated by the USDA). At the same time, seven states have now banned cultivated meat, with Florida and Texas being sued for their decisions.

    “We believe consumers should have the right to choose safe, delicious, healthy products that are approved by US regulators (in our case, the FDA and the USDA),” says Chang. “The bans are unfortunate because they limit choice, innovation, and economic opportunity in those states. That said, they haven’t slowed our plans – we’re focusing on states where cultivated meat is welcomed, starting here in California.”

    The post Exclusive: Mission Barns Launches Cultivated Pork in World-First Dinner appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Iceland’s ORF Genetics Gets $5.8M to Advance Cultivated Meat via Molecular Farming

    orf genetics
    3 Mins Read

    Food tech startup ORF Genetics has raised €5M ($5.8M) in a new funding round to scale up production of specialised proteins key to cultivated meat.

    Icelandic firm ORF Genetics has secured €5M ($5.8M) in funding to advance and scale up its cultivated meat capabilities.

    The investment round saw participation from both existing and new shareholders, and will help the startup significantly scale up its capacity to produce specialised proteins via molecular farming. These proteins are key components for cultivated meat manufacturing.

    “We are at a pivotal moment,” said CEO Berglind Rán Ólafsdóttir. “This funding ensures that ORF can meet the imminent surge in commercial opportunities and supports the company’s next growth phase.”

    How ORF Genetics makes growth factors with barley

    orf genetics funding
    Courtesy: ORF Genetics

    ORF Genetics’s base technology leverages molecular farming, through which companies modify the cells of plants (instead of microbes or animals, as is the case in cultivated proteins or precision fermentation) to enable them to replicate animal proteins, which can be harvested from leaves or other plant tissues.

    Its unique expression system is called Orfeus, which uses barley as a vehicle for large-scale production of recombinant animal and human proteins. The startup identifies the genetic code for the target protein, which is cloned into a highly optimised expression vector called GrainVec.

    In a process mediated by bacteria, immature barley embryos undergo tissue culture in a carefully optimised medium, which then grow into strong, bioengineered plantlets with a well-developed root system.

    These are then transferred into a supporting matrix in small pots, in a controlled growth chamber. After a well-defined period, these plantlets are transferred into an automatic hydroponic conveyor belt cultivation system until they are ready for harvest.

    ORF Genetics chooses the highest-expressing barley lines (based on target protein levels in the barley seed extract), which are expanded further into a final selection of the best-yielding lines.

    ORF Genetics plans extension of funding round

    cultivated meat growth factors
    Courtesy: ORF Genetics

    The Orfeus platform has allowed the firm to develop a portfolio of growth factors, including Mesokine, its range for cultivated meat. Each product is a defined barley seed extract that contains endotoxin-free growth factors from cows, pigs, birds and marine species. They also contain selected barley proteins to stabilise them, prolong their lifetime, and enhance their bioactivity.

    ORF Genetics notes that Mesokine has become a trusted brand among key players in the cultivated meat space. One of its most notable customers is Australia’s Vow, whose cultured quail is made from the Icelandic firm’s growth factors, and is being sold at restaurants in Singapore and Australia.

    Further, it’s working with South Korea-based SeaWith, which is hoping to receive regulatory approval and launch cultivated seafood in its home country by the end of the year. The two companies hosted a public tasting for cultivated shellfish meat at the Iceland Ocean Cluster this February, in an event attended by First Gentleman Björn Skúlason and agrifood minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson.

    Now, ORF Genetics is aiming to supercharge the production of Mesokine, with plans to expand capacity by 14-fold by 2027, and by a factor of 10,000 by 2032.

    To help with this effort, it’s extending its funding round with a goal of raising €7M. “We plan to expand the round by the end of October and welcome new investors to join us in building a company that holds a key position in a market with tremendous growth potential,” said Berglind Rán.

    ORF Genetics is among several companies innovating with molecular farming, including Moolec Science, Alpine Bio, PoLoPo, Mozza, Miruku, Tiamat Sciences, Bright Biotech, and NewMoo.

    The post Iceland’s ORF Genetics Gets $5.8M to Advance Cultivated Meat via Molecular Farming appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • This Startup is Launching Scandinavia’s First Cultivated Meat Factory

    remeat
    4 Mins Read

    Swedish cultivated meat startup Re:meat has struck a deal to establish a pilot facility in Lund, which will be the first such factory in Scandinavia.

    Months after securing $1.1M in funding, Malmö-based firm Re:meat has signed a partnership to establish Scandinavia’s first cultivated meat facility.

    The firm has teamed up with Biotech Heights, a biotech innovation hub supporting future food systems at Kemicentrum in Lund. Co-founded by Lund University, packaging giant Tetra Pak, and Sweden’s national innovation agency, Vinnova, it is located alongside the Lund University Pre-Pilot Plant (LUPPP).

    Re:meat has become Biotech Heights’s first startup member, which will launch its first pilot at the LUPPP. “Collaboration is necessary to advance the development of fermentation and apply bioprocess technologies to new industries,” said Emma Nordell, managing director of Biotech Heights.

    “Re:meat will be our first start-up to pave the way for collaboration between academia, start-ups and industry players within biosolutions,” she added.

    The pilot plant, titled Re:meatery, will be installed by the end of 2025 and validated with partners and clients in spring 2026.

    Re:meat bets on food-grade bioreactors to lower costs

    remeat funding
    Courtesy: Re:meat

    Founded in 2022 by Jacob Schaldemose Peterson, Marie Gibbons and Gittan Schiöld, Re:meat emerged from stealth a year later with cultivated Swedish meatballs that received “overwhelmingly positive” feedback in taste tests.

    It sources non-GMO cells through a biopsy of healthy free-range livestock. These are immortalised cells, meaning they can differentiate and multiply indefinitely. They’re fed a mix of nutrients and vitamins under an ideal temperature in fermentation tanks called bioreactors.

    Once they grow to the desired density, the cells are harvested – this process currently takes three weeks. Re:meat’s initial focus is on minced meat, but it is working towards whole-cut products in the long term.

    The company says its patented core technology radically lowers the cost of hardware for cultivated meat, an important step towards scaling cultivated food. It has developed an alternative to the controversial and expensive fetal bovine serum, and uses food-grade equipment instead of pharmaceutical bioreactors to meet the lower margins in this industry.

    It’s an approach being championed by companies like cultivated pork producer Mission Barns, cultivated pet food startup Meatly, and AI-led biotech firm Arsenale Bioyards.

    “Inspired by our many years in the brewing industry, combined with our R&D team in cell biology, we have developed a food-grade bioreactor that still meets the high standards and parameters to cultivate sensitive mammalian cells,” said Re:meat CTO Marten Schmidt.

    “This means that our Re:meatery also fits for yeast, and bacteria-based processes, such as precision fermentation. So, the potential really extends beyond cultivated meat,” he added.

    Re:meat plays into Swedes’ support for domestic production

    lab grown meat factory
    Courtesy: Re:meat

    While Re:meat is Sweden’s only dedicated cultivated meat startup, it doesn’t mean there’s a lack of appetite for these proteins in the country.

    Polling by the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe has found that 55% of Swedes are open to trying cultivated meat, with 57% supporting its availability if approved by regulators.

    “Swedes are typically keen on new things,” Thomas Kalling, professor of strategic management at Lund University, told GFI Europe last year. “Their balanced perspective underscores the potential for cultivated meat to not only enhance our competitive edge, but also tackle pressing global challenges related to health, ecology, nutrition, and affordability.”

    Re:meat’s Schmidt noted: “We identified the need to design equipment that costs a fraction of today to be able to scale and industrialise alternative foods production and all its connected processes. This could enable a food revolution.

    “Biotech Heights is a great partner supporting our common goal of bridging academia and commercialisation by providing the perfect combination of available infrastructure and scientific know-how,” he added.

    “It is really inspiring that Re:meat wants to establish a pilot in our environment,” said LUPP manager Martin Hendström. “It will open up exciting new opportunities for innovation, research and education.”

    The GFI Europe survey showed that three in five Swedish consumers back domestic production to bolster the national economy. Re:meat’s new factory will lean into that. And it isn’t the only major alternative protein facility being built in the country.

    In April, agricultural cooperative Lantmännen received €50M from the European Investment Bank in part financing for a pea protein isolate factory. It will manufacture plant proteins for use in applications like protein bars, drinks, breads, as well as non-dairy alternatives and meat analogues.

    The post This Startup is Launching Scandinavia’s First Cultivated Meat Factory appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • The EU Backs The World’s First Cultivated Meat Farm

    lab grown meat farmers
    4 Mins Read

    The Craft Consortium is building a cultivated meat farm in the Netherlands, a first-of-its-kind project co-funded by the EU.

    When it comes to ensuring the safety of cultivated meat, way more Europeans place their trust in farmers (27%) than retailers or private companies (11%), according to a Euroconsumers survey this year.

    The fact that farmers themselves will be most acutely affected if cultivated meat takes off on a large scale further emphasises their critical role in this future food sector.

    These factors have led several stakeholders to join forces under the Craft (Cellular Revolution in Agriculture and Farming Technology) Consortium, with the aim of building the world’s first cultivated meat farm in the Netherlands.

    The project has been awarded the first €2M of a €4M grant request, co-funded by the EU-backed accelerator, EIT Food. It’s designed to decentralise cultivated meat production and enable farmers to diversify their businesses.

    The consortium is made up of RespectFarms, Wageningen University & Research, cultivated meat firms Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, sustainable agriculture company Kipster, and facility design specialist Royal Kuijpers.

    “Craft boils down a world problem to farm size. So we can solve it,” said RespectFarms co-founder Ralf Becks. “And once it works, we scale this out to the world to increase impact. Let’s export technology instead of meat and animals.”

    How the cultivated meat farm would work

    The project is looking to integrate cultivated meat into real farms, ensuring that the production is led by farmers and embedded locally. It will demonstrate how cultivated meat can coexist with livestock and crops, creating resilient and sustainable food systems.

    “It is important for food innovations to stay as close as possible to primary food production, making use of local resources and waste streams,” said René Wijffels, a bioprocessing engineering professor at Wageningen University.

    RespectFarms has previously explained that through this model, farmers can work with experts (like architects) who can retrofit their stable with new designs that are fit for cultivated meat production and a farm of the future.

    They’d be able to produce more meat with fewer cows, and they don’t need to be slaughtered. It safeguards them against any disease risk to the livestock (and eventually humans who consume their meat), because you’re essentially taking them out of the equation.

    “This represents the first effort globally to merge cellular and traditional farming and promises to deliver consumers the best of both worlds: the unrivalled experience of real meat, through products produced and sold locally,” noted Peter Verstrate, co-founder and COO of Mosa Meat, which this year applied for regulatory approval for cultivated beef fat in the EU.

    “The project will deliver a business model that is fundamentally new on one hand, and centuries old on the other, and will add [a] new perspective, also for farmers, to agriculture as we know it,” he added.

    As things stand, the food system is simply not sustainable, both from a food security and climate perspective. There’s not enough land to produce food for a global population that will approach 10 billion by mid-century, while the emissions linked to livestock production make up the bulk of agriculture’s environmental footprint.

    Cultivated meat, though, can reduce water consumption by 78%, land use by 95%, emissions by 92%, and societal costs by 56%. “We need to find other ways to provide for our food – within the Earth’s capacity, with as little impact as possible on animals, humans, [and] the climate, and with a future for the (livestock) farmer,” said Ruud Zanders, co-founder of Kipster and RespectFarms. “Et voila: the cultured meat farm.”

    Many farmers have embraced cultivated meat

    cultivated meat farm
    Courtesy: RespectFarms

    The threat to farmers has been the source of reasoning behind bans (and attempted bans) on cultivated meat in the US and Europe, despite livestock producers being open to the competition and advocating for consumer choice.

    Farmers in the UK recognise the opportunities presented by cultivated meat, and are more worried about the social issues brought on by these proteins, like Big Food controlling the market or the knock-on effects on rural communities, than the impact on their bottom lines.

    This was the argument of the Euroconsumer report. “Cultivated meat can offer opportunities for farmers – but only if we make smart choices now, keep things fair, and make sure benefits don’t just go to a few big players,” it stated.

    In the US, too, livestock farmers themselves have opposed the numerous bans on cultivated meat, noting that they didn’t need the government’s help to compete with these proteins.

    “This is not an anti-farmer sector; this is a sector that is using farmed products in new ways. And generally using farmed products that are more profitable and highly sustainable in the way they’re produced,” Andy Jarvis, director of the Bezos Earth Fund’s Future of Food scheme, told Green Queen last year. “The [culture] media are sugars, and all sorts of minerals and things that are coming from crops, and they’re farmed goods.”

    This sentiment was echoed by Euroconsumers, which highlighted “small-scale on-farm cultivated meat production” as an opportunity for farmers.

    Now, the EU agrees with this assessment, having invested in the Craft Consortium. “This grant enables us, together with RespectFarms and our partners, to pioneer farm-scale cultivated meat production, empowering farmers with viable, resilient, and sustainable models that align with Europe’s mission for healthier lives and fairer food systems,” said Neta Lavon, co-founder & CTO of Aleph Farms.

    “Combining knowledge, building trust and creating new narratives is what excites me about this project,” said Ira van Eelen, co-founder of RespectFarms and board member of Cellulaire Agricultuur Nederland. “I envision children’s books with fun educational stories about ‘Happy the Cell’ and his adventures in becoming the king’s meatball. This project is literally ‘Food for Thought’.”

    The post The EU Backs The World’s First Cultivated Meat Farm appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Industry Consolidation: 40+ Major Alternative Protein Companies Have Shut or Been Acquired in Past Year

    2 Mins Read

    The previous 12 months have seen a sharp increase in the number of alternative protein businesses that have ceased trading, come close to the brink, or been acquired. Here are all the major deals, starting September 2024.

    The alternative protein sector has experienced a dramatic rise in business failures and consolidation over the past 12 months, reflecting significant market turbulence and shifting investor sentiment.

    Research by Green Queen shows that between September 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025, more than 40 major alternative protein ventures have either shuttered their doors, undergone mergers, fallen into bankruptcy or liquidation, or been acquired – often at discounted valuations.

    Geographic and sector breakdown

    The bulk of activity occurred in Europe (23 deals) and North America (16 deals), with Asia-Pacific registering five notable events. This clustering highlights how alternative protein entrepreneurship, historically clustered in these regions, has faced pronounced headwinds from both consumer and funding challenges.

    Particularly in Europe, legacy brands in the UK and the Netherlands have wound down or switched ownership, while several US-based startups, including those with substantial venture capital backing, have ceased trading or sold assets at losses.

    Most casualties and transactions have been in plant-based companies (32 out of the total), whereas fermentation (7), cell cultivation (3), molecular farming (1), and blended protein (1) technologies make up far fewer. This skew suggests plant-based meat, dairy, and ready-meal startups have struggled most with scaling and profitability.

    Of these, meat analogues (18 deals) and dairy alternatives (10 deals) were especially susceptible, perhaps due to intensifying competition and slower-than-expected consumer adoption. B2B protein suppliers and niche categories like honey and eggs also saw closures and restructuring, indicating market saturation or lack of stand-out differentiation.

    Types of business events

    Acquisitions constituted the largest share of deals (24), flanked by multiple closures (11), liquidations (4), bankruptcies (2), one merger, and several notable asset sales*.

    In some cases, acquisitions afforded surviving entities access to IP or branded assets without assuming full operational risk. Other times, distressed sales reflected deep operational challenges and an inability to raise further funds.

    *Note: The estimates for liquidations and bankruptcies do not include businesses that were later acquired or shut.

    Macro implications

    The spike in closures, insolvencies, and “fire sale” acquisitions suggests intense market correction, likely driven by rising production costs, tighter capital flows, faltering retail demand, and ongoing price sensitivity among mainstream consumers.

    The sector is recalibrating around stronger, well-capitalised incumbents, with distressed startups finding new homes or dissolving. It’s clear that after years of expansion, alternative protein is experiencing its first widespread shakeout – a sign both of maturation and a need for strategic pivots in product, channel, and consumer engagement.

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