The University of California, Davis, (UC Davis) has received a grant of up to $3.55m from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Growing Convergence program to explore the long-term sustainability and commercial viability of cell-cultured (a.k.a. 'cultivated')...
The authors of a 2019 report from RethinkX predicting that the US dairy and cattle industry would collapse by 2030 as microscopic microbial protein factories disrupt the food system as we know it were dismissed by some as living in a ‘vegan fantasyland.'...
As plant-based protein gains acceptance with mainstream consumers, manufacturers and investors are looking beyond the flash of new brands to consider the needs – and marketing opportunities – around services and ingredients that support increased production...
Cultured meat company Mosa Meat has closed a $55m (€47m) Series B funding round. FoodNavigator asks the start-up’s Head of Operations, Sarah Lucas, exactly how it plans to use the money.
To create a “perfect food system” that can feed more people with fewer resources in the next 50 years, the food industry needs to turn 180-degrees away from long-considered “best practices,” including focusing on high yield crops, concentrating production...
Venture capitalists’ initial hesitancy to enter new deals immediately following the coronavirus outbreak appears to be easing with the most interest and activity focused on grocery CPGs and food delivery, according to an analyst with Pitchbook.
Plant-based egg maker Eat Just hopes to turn an operating profit before the end of 2021, at which point founder and CEO Josh Tetrick says the company will consider an initial public offering (IPO).
Matrix Meats – an Ohio-based startup developing customizable nanofiber scaffolds for cell-cultured meat production - will showcase a prototype “solid meat product such as a thin piece of steak” in partnership with a cultured meat co by the end of this...
How should meat grown from cultured animal cells be labeled? In a joint FDA/USDA webinar, officials said they would work together to come up with joint principles to govern the labeling of products under their respective jurisdictions (FDA: seafood; USDA:...
Berkeley-based startup Mission Barns – which is carving a niche in the nascent cell-cultured meat industry by focusing on animal fat – is in talks with leading food companies about incorporating animal fat grown in bioreactors into a range of hybrid meats...
San Leandro-based Artemys Foods – one of the latest startups to emerge from stealth mode in the nascent cell-cultured (a.k.a cell-based, cultivated) meat arena – aims to launch its first prototype, a hybrid burger combining cell-based meat and fat with...
Hybrid products combining meat grown from cells in bioreactors with plant-based proteins and fats could drive the first wave of cell-based product launches, predicts the founder of UK-based startup Higher Steaks, which unveiled the ‘world’s first’ cell-based...
‘Lab-grown’ seafood is a food marketer’s nightmare. ‘Clean’ seafood carries the tacit implication that the regular stuff is dirty. ‘Cultivated’ seafood – a term that performed well in recent research on meat & poultry – could be confused with farmed...
From plant-based protein trends to sustainable packaging, managing food waste, using artificial intelligence to track consumer sentiment, and the latest developments in cell-cultured meat and keto diet trends, here are some of the education sessions that...
Tokyo-based cell-cultured meat company IntegriCulture has raised JPY 800m (US$ 7.4m) in a Series A round that will help it advance its mission of ‘democratizing cellular agriculture’ and build a production facility to take slaughter-free foie gras to...
As more meat plants temporarily close or operate at reduced capacity as coronavirus spreads, plant-based brands “have a window of opportunity to present themselves as more reliable alternatives,” says Lux Research. But no production facilities are immune...
The Israeli start-up discusses its new sustainability plans, why it sees cultured meat as a 'necessity' and also why the sector can live in harmony with the traditional meat industry.
BlueNalu, a startup hoping to make a splash in the cell-based seafood market, has raised $20m in a Series A round that will help fund a pilot production facility in San Diego to produce small quantities of product for commercial launch in late 2021.
Can 60% of current meat consumption be replaced by novel vegan meat replacements and cultured meat in the next 20 years? That is what AT Kearney has recently projected, but the analysis does not outline a path for achieving the forecast. Is reaching...
Drawn to the rapid sales growth and widespread consumer interest in plant-based alternatives to animal products, a team of investors and industry experts has launched the Eat Beyond Global Investment Fund to connect retail investors with potentially fast-growing...
As the number of food accelerators and incubators has increased in recent years, the barrier for entry into the market has decreased – and while this makes launching a new product or company easier, it has made cutting through the competition and finding...
While a new cell-based meat company emerges from stealth mode almost every month, the amount of money invested in the embryonic sector to date pales in comparison to the megabucks poured into plant-based meat over the past couple of years. So is slaughter-free...
Giving the first clear signal that cell-based meat is moving out of the laboratory and into the market, Memphis Meats has unveiled plans to build a pilot production facility after raising $161m – a sum greater than the amount invested to date in all of...
Through the acquisition of a 30,000-square-foot facility in Appleton, Minnesota, Eat JUST, Inc. can now scale up to 24/7 production of its plant-based protein isolate extracted from mung beans, the key ingredient in JUST Egg.
Consumers are still seeking a balance of animal and plant-based foods in their diet, says Euromonitor, which says plant-based meats are currently in the 'honeymoon period,' but could evolve over time as consumers demand less processed plant-based...
New research from strategic marketing and communications Charleston|Orwig firm suggests that younger consumers are open to the idea of cell-cultured meat, and milk and ice cream made from microbes rather than cows, even when they are described with far-from-neutral...
As new food technologies emerge, such as cell-cultured meat and new fermentation-based ingredients, younger generations such as Gen Z and millennials are more open and quicker to embrace these new advancements, according to a consumer perception survey...
A federal bill that would require plant-based and cell-cultured meat products to be labeled as ‘imitation’ meat has been welcomed by beef producers and slammed by plant-based meat advocates, as the row over terminology in the burgeoning space heats up.
Future Meat Technologies is one of the few players in the nascent space to have shown how cell-cultured (a.k.a. ‘cultivated’) meat could move from the lab to an industrial scale, claims one of the lead investors in a $14m Series A round that will support...
Once the stuff of science fiction or far-flung futuristic dreams, the ability to eat juicy sausages, fish fillets or a sizzling steak without having to first slaughter an animal is rapidly becoming a reality as the cultured-meat and -seafood industries...
Cell-cultured or ‘cultivated’ meat offers the promise of ‘real meat’ – not a plant-based approximation – without raising and slaughtering millions of animals. But is it attracting the same level of investment, and how soon might it realistically come...
LocalCoho, Tia Lupita Foods, and Capro-X scooped the top prizes at FoodBytes! Chicago, a live pitch competition and business mentorship platform for food and ag startups developed by Rabobank, the world’s largest food and agriculture bank.
“By 2030, the US dairy and cattle industry will have collapsed,” as ‘precision fermentation’ – producing animal proteins more efficiently via microbes – disrupts food production as we know it, predicts think tank RethinkX, which critics argue is living...
Barb Stuckey: 'When you talk about cells, you leave the realm of deliciousness...”
The term ‘clean meat’ is confusing (and carries the tacit implication that regular meat is 'dirty’), while ‘cell-based meat’ – a more neutral term favored by some startups – doesn’t poll well with shoppers. ‘Lab-grown’ is a food marketer’s nightmare....
BlueNalu, Finless Foods, Forke & Goode, JUST Inc., and Memphis Meats have formed a coalition called the Alliance for Meat, Poultry & Seafood (AMPS) Innovation to carve out a clear path to market for cell-cultured meat, poultry, and seafood.
Insect protein remains frustratingly niche, and cell-cultured meat – while groundbreaking - could be a tough sell. But plant-based meat is something mainstream consumers can understand and embrace, provided products truly deliver on taste and price, argues...
Flexitarians -- a concept that generally refers to consumers who are eating a more plant-based diet but still eat meat -- are ushering in a new area of protein consumption that is helping lift instead of hinder meat sales, according to Nielsen research.
While ending factory farming and reducing GHG emissions are top priorities for start-ups such as Impossible Foods, most shoppers are primarily motivated by ‘benefits for me’ – be it taste and discovery, or health and wellness, when it comes to plant-based...
A law (Act 501) coming into force in Arkansas on July 24 puts plant-based brands between a rock and a hard place by restricting the use of 'meaty' terms to products derived from slaughtered animals, alleges a new lawsuit filed by Turtle Island...
Hopes of a settlement in a high-profile lawsuit over Missouri’s controversial new law banning ‘meaty’ terms on plant-based and cell-cultured meat are fading, after talks have reached an impasse and the parties are set to move forward with the litigation.
The Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) and member company Upton’s Naturals have filed a lawsuit in Mississippi challenging a new labeling law that could make using ‘meaty’ terms to describe plant-based and cell-cultured meat subject to criminal penalties....
Bills to prevent plant-based and/or cell-cultured products from being labeled as ‘meat’ or ‘beef’ have been introduced in 25 US states, and have already passed in states including Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, North...
A new source of more affordable long-chain omega-3 fatty acids could give fish oil, krill, and microalgae a run for their money and open up new fortification opportunities for food manufacturers, claims Barcelona-based start-up Cubiq Foods, which has...
The world’s first research centre focused on research and development in the cell-based meat category has been announced in Maharashtra, India, with the first phase set to open by 2020.
The USDA and the FDA have provided more clarity on who will be responsible for what when it comes to regulating cell-cultured meat, but have not – yet – offered their thoughts on appropriate terminology with which to describe it on food labels.
‘We’ve had pushback [over genetic engineering] for years now, but the conversation has to change’
If printing out DNA sequences that instruct yeast or bacteria to express proteins identical to those in eggs or milk in big fermentation tanks sounds a little ‘unnatural,’ consider how natural, sustainable, or indeed ethical, it is to continue to produce...
As recently as a few years ago, the words food and tech were incongruous together, but today they signal a booming industry that is ripe for innovation, and according to the VP of business development at the Israel-based incubator The Kitchen, the combination...
Lean fish could have significant advantages over other aquatic or terrestrial species for cell-cultured protein production, according to the founders of Clean Research, a new open science initiative created to accelerate the research and development of...
