Myodenovo aims to grows cultivated meat using plant-based scaffolds

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ProFuse Technology Unveils Innovation That Enables 48-Hour Cultivated Meat Growth

Israeli biotech ProFuse Technology, a company at the forefront of muscle tissue growth, announces a tech breakthrough that it claims will mark a new era of cultivated meat production. According to the company, it has developed a scaffolding 3D growth technology that, along with its cell culture media and growth protocols, can accelerate muscle growth time fivefold. ProFuse Technology claims this advancement allows cultivated meat production within 48 hours, reducing the usual time by 80%. Moreover, this innovation enhances the protein content of muscle tissue by five times that of traditional meat, resulting in a more protein-rich alternative and achieving these improvements without using genetic modification. Dr. Tamar Eigler Hirsh, CTO of ProFuse Technology, says: “ProFuse Technology’s proprietary media supplements and protocols achieve effective muscle production …

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CDMO Extracellular has opened what it claims is Europe's largest contract pilot plant for cultivated meat and seafood in Bristol, the UK.

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Extracellular Unveils Europe’s Largest Contract Pilot Facility for Cultivated Meat & Seafood

CDMO Extracellular announces it has opened what it claims is Europe’s largest contract pilot plant for cultivated meat and seafood in Bristol, the UK.  The facility, established for food-grade operations, will provide essential scale-up and manufacturing services to assist cultivated meat companies in achieving their production goals and mitigating the expense and time associated with building new sites. According to Extracellular, its pilot plant currently has an operational capacity of 200 L and is expected to reach 2,000 L by December 2023. It can produce up to 50t of cultivated meat annually; however, the facility is expected to reach 100t per year. The facility will hold multiple bioreactors from 50 L to 5,000 L and has a planned capacity to hold 10,000 liters. Great consumer products at achievable …

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JBS has commenced construction of Brazil's first research facility focused on cultivated meat.

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Meat Giant JBS Begins Construction on $62M Innovation Centre for Cultivated Meat

JBS, the largest meat processing company in the world, announces it has commenced construction of Brazil’s first research facility focused on food biotechnology — the JBS Biotech Innovation Centre. Located at Sapiens Parque innovation hub in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, and scheduled to open at the end of 2024, the center aims to be a model facility to produce cultivated meat efficiently, scalable, and at competitive prices. “As a global leader in protein production, it is our responsibility to be at the forefront of foodtech,” says Jerson Nascimento Jr., global supply and innovation director of JBS. $ 62 million According to JBS, the Biotech Innovation Centre will require approximately $62 million in investment over three phases. In the first phase, the meat giant will invest $22 million …

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A banner promoting Eat Just (GOOd Meat) cultivated chicken

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Study Finds Singaporean Meat Consumers Prefer the Term ‘Cultivated Meat’

Researchers from Singapore Management University (SMU) conducted a study to determine what nomenclature used to describe cultivated meat would appeal to meat eaters, including consumers who have eaten cultivated meat in Singapore — the first country to approve the commercialization of a cultivated meat product (GOOD Meat’s cultivated chicken). According to the findings, among the terms ‘lab-grown meat’, ‘animal-free meat’, ‘cultured meat’, ‘clean meat’ or ‘cell-based meat’, ‘cultivated meat’ emerged as the preferred name and was strongly associated with positive attitudes toward this novel food.  “That ‘cultivated meat‘ was the preferred terminology is insightful. Having a single, universally accepted term to describe this novel food technology not only helps to foster greater consumer understanding and acceptance but also reduces confusion about this new food source,” says Professor Mark Chong, …

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Hen running on grass

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These Italian Researchers Are Developing Chicken Meat From a Feather

Researchers from an Italian university are studying how to obtain chicken meat from a feather. The project taking place via professors Luciano Conti and Stefano Maria Biressi at the University of Trento was assigned and financed by the Italian Save the Chickens Foundation, which contacts vegconomist with the news. Researcher Nike Schiavo, MSc Biotechnology, is overseeing the experiments for the project and is currently completing the draft report, according to the foundation’s representative. She explains that cells are obtained from “feathers obtained through petting the chick” rather than from feathers that have fallen to the ground spontaneously. “The cells that we manage to extract from the feathers grow well and so far we have managed to expand them for a few months, obtaining tens of …

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Hoxton Farms opens cultivated animal fat pilot production facility

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Hoxton Farms Opens “UK’s First” Cultivated Animal Fat Pilot Production Facility

London-based biotech firm Hoxton Farms has opened what it claims is the UK’s first pilot production facility for cultivated animal fat. The 14,000-square-foot site on Old Street in Central London features specialist cell culture laboratories, a food development kitchen, office space, and communal areas. There is also a workshop for the manufacturing of bespoke bioreactors, designed to produce cultivated fat at a much lower cost than standard bioreactors. These have been developed using Hoxton Farms’ technology platform, which is based on computational biology and mathematical modelling. Price parity with plant oils Following the opening of the new facility, Hoxton Farms plans to expand its team from 40 to 100 people. Additionally, production capacity will be increased to ten tonnes of cultivated fat per year. The …

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Alt proteins could help to sustainably scale up the seafood industry

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Report: Alternative Proteins Could Be Key in Sustainably Scaling the Seafood Industry

A new report by McKinsey has found that plant-based, cultivated, and fermented fish alternatives could play an important role in scaling up the seafood industry. Despite the fact that more than 85% of global fish stocks are fully exploited or overexploited, demand for seafood continues to rise worldwide. While aquaculture has increased seafood production, it has not been able to keep up with demand, meaning other solutions are needed. Alternative seafood does not have to contend with some of the challenges faced by conventional seafood producers; for example, a limited number of licenses are issued for fishing and aquaculture due to sustainability issues, whereas this does not apply to alt seafood. Additionally, conventional seafood can contain unsafe levels of mercury, and may need to be …

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New Culture team shot

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New Culture: “With Our Groundbreaking Science, Any Cheese is Possible and Can Be Made Completely Animal-Free”

Californian animal-free cheese producer New Culture revealed an impressive milestone last month, significantly upscaling its precision fermentation platform, managing to successfully produce enough animal-free casein in a single run to make enough vegan mozzarella for 25,000 pizzas. Since our last interview back in 2019, the startup has received backing from Kraft Heinz, ADM, and biotech giant CJ CheilJedang, for its innovative platform. It was time to catch up with CEO and co-founder Matt Gibson to hear more about New Culture’s string of success. What is New Culture’s mission or long-term goal?  New Culture’s mission and long-term goal is to lead the global change to an animal-free dairy future. We’re revolutionizing how cheese is made with our animal-free dairy products that stretch, melt, and taste like …

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CellX cultivated dish at demo

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China’s CellX is Confident it “Can Achieve Cost-Effective Mass Production of Cultivated Fish”

A month after announcing it had commenced operations at what it claims to be China’s first large-scale pilot plant for cultivated meat, CellX states this week it has made significant strides towards the industrial application of cultivated seafood. “Through the use of high-throughput equipment and systematic research methods for cell fate regulation, we achieved successful suspension differentiation of fish cells in only six months, which typically requires one to two years in the industry,” states CellX R&D Director Dr. Shuangshuang Chen in a press release. CellX secured $6.5 million in Series A+ funding this June to establish the pilot plant and has gone on to achieve a series of milestones in the three months that have passed. The company has now successfully completed the pilot …

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cellrev report

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New White Paper Discusses The Future of Commercial-Scale Cell Manufacturing

UK bioprocessing company CellRev has published a white paper titled The Future of Commercial-Scale Cell Manufacturing, highlighting the challenges and opportunities faced by the cellular agriculture industry. The paper gives the opinions of experts from across the industry, finding that innovation is needed in all areas. Increased scale will be necessary to make cultivated products mainstream and commercially viable; this will require facilities that can produce huge quantities of cells, which will only be possible with considerable investment. However, livestock farmers currently receive far more public funding than cultivated meat companies. More investment into large-scale facilities would allow for the automation of cultivated meat production, reducing the need for skilled labor. Furthermore, current processes and equipment are mostly designed for other biologic products, and are …

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Meatafora meatballs

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New Research Collaboration Accelerates Meatafora’s Product Development

Meatafora, an Israel-based cultivated meat company, announces its latest technological advancements, positioning the food tech company one step closer to a consumer product launch.  The company’s mission is to provide a premium cultivated meat product that is highly nutritious and cost-efficient using a scaleable process that it claims can reduce costs by up to 50 percent.  Unlocking new research The company’s recent collaboration with Technion Israel Institute of Technology has provided access to new research, which has been instrumental in Meatafora’s technological developments. The procurement of research breakthroughs from the leading research university has yielded two pivotal milestones for the company. The first involves the successful development of an oleogel fat substitute that replicates the characteristics of animal-derived fat while offering improved nutritional value. This …

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The Cultivated B. facility

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The Cultivated B. Enters Pre-Submission Phase for Approval of Cultivated Meat in Europe

The Cultivated B — the cultivated meat subsidiary of Germany’s second-largest animal-based sausage manufacturer Infamily Foods — states it has entered the pre-submission phase of regulatory approval for the sale of hybrid cultivated meat products in Europe. The company explains that it has entered the initial stage, which is an official EFSA process requested at least six months in advance of the official submission. After the application is submitted, TCB would become the world’s first biotech company to apply for EFSA certification for cultivated meat, if there have been no further applications in this period. It should be noted here that while Aleph Farms did apply for regulatory approval in Switzerland this July, marking it the first-ever submission for cultivated meat in Europe, this application …

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Precision fermentation egg products by Formo

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Formo to Launch “New Class of Products” With Precision Fermentation Eggs

A peer-reviewed study conducted by Formo in partnership with Singapore Management University has found considerable demand for precision fermentation eggs, as the company prepares to launch what it describes as a “new class of products”. Through its existing protein production platform, which is already used to produce precision fermentation dairy proteins, Formo will use bio-designed microbes to make animal-free eggs. Since fermented proteins have a precedent of consumption in the EU, they are not considered a novel food, meaning Formo could introduce its first fermented egg products as early as this year. Curiosity The study surveyed over 3,000 consumers from Germany, the US, and Singapore, finding that a majority (51-61%) would be willing to try the products across all three countries. German consumers were predominantly …

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Ivy Farm and Finnebrogue partner to bring cultivated Wagyu beef to the UK  

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Biotech Firms Awarded €1.8M for Creating Animal-Free Cell Culture Media to Make Cultivated Meat a “Commercial Reality”

Commercializing cell-based products such as cultivated meat remains challenging due to the substantial costs and ethical implications of fetal bovine serum. To find solutions, EIT Food, the world’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community, and the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe launched the Cultivated Meat Innovation Challenge to develop a more affordable and efficient animal-free cell culture media. The winners, UK biotech company 3D Bio-Tissues, Israeli biotech startup BioBetter, and German pharmaceutical company LenioBio have received €1.8 million from EIT Food. With the funds, the companies will continue their R&D efforts in developing lower-cost alternatives to bovine serum. Moreover, they will produce cultivated meat products using their innovations.  Dr. Adam M. Adamek, director of innovation at EIT Food, said: “The cost of cell-culture media is a significant barrier to scaling …

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A 3D printer lays down used coffee grounds to make a flower pot

© University of Colorado / Michael Rivera

3D Printing with Used Coffee Grounds to Reduce Waste & Help Eliminate Plastic

In a novel initiative led by Michael Rivera, an Assistant Professor at the ATLAS Institute and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, researchers are working on leveraging coffee grounds to reduce waste in 3D printing. Rivera and his team have devised a method for 3D printing various objects using a paste comprising recycled coffee grounds, water, and other sustainable components. The project is perceived as an initial step towards the exploration of alternative eco-friendly 3D printing materials, which could potentially replace conventional plastics. Rivera expounded that the majority of consumer 3D printers in today’s market utilize thermoplastics, with polylactic acid (PLA) being the most prevalent. While PLA is theoretically compostable, only a limited number of composting facilities accept it. “If …

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Tempeh Today, Schouten Food

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Tempeh Today and Marel India Partner to Install Small-Scale Tempeh Fermentation Units

Henk Schouten, the CEO of plant-based protein company Schouten Europe, launched Tempeh Today in India in 2021, aiming to establish 100 small-scale fermentation units (SFUs) for tempeh production within five years. To reach these goals, CFSS B.V., the company behind Tempeh Today in India, and Marel India Pvt. Ltd. have announced a strategic partnership to boost tempeh production and continue to offer a sustainable solution for proteins in India. Marel India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marel, an international company that provides high-quality equipment, solutions, services, and software for the food processing industry.  Small and micro units for tempeh “The collaboration with Marel is a crucial next step in rolling out the concept. I am thrilled that Marel is supporting this initiative, and I look forward to our future …

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The Eastman Business Park

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LiDestri Foods and Fermentum Establish “First” Commercial Scale Precision Fermentation Plant in the US

LiDestri Foods and Drinks, the largest private label and food contract manufacturer in the US, and Fermentum, a leading fermentation capacity expert, have announced a joint venture to solve the bottleneck for precision fermentation capacity and support the growth of industrial biotechnology in the country. As part of the collaboration, LiDestri Foods will provide Fermentum $8.5 million in financing for leasing and construction. Fermentum will run a facility at Eastman Business Park in Rochester, NY, with 510 thousand liters of precision fermentation capacity and robust commercial scale downstream processing already installed.  The site, which is operational and available immediately, has the necessary equipment, including tank capacities ranging from 400 L, 20 thousand, and 70 thousand liters, to scale ingredients from the lab to pilot and commercial scale fermentation. According …

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Israel's BioBetter has opened its first food-grade pilot facility to accelerate the production of growth factors

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BioBetter Opens Pilot Facility to Pave Way for Cultivated Meat through Molecular Farming

Israeli biotech startup BioBetter has opened its first food-grade pilot facility to accelerate the production of growth factors for the cultivated meat industry.  BioBetter pioneers a unique protein manufacturing platform that uses molecular farming to produce tobacco plant-derived growth factors (GFs) and bovine insulin-expressing plants. The company claims it has reached commercial-scale cultivation and can process 100 kg of tobacco plants daily at the new plant, aiming to process five tons by 2025. With these ambitious goals, the company has doubled its team to 50 workers to advance the plant’s operations, adhering to ISO2200 and HACCP standards. BioBetter says that since the plant meets all regulatory requirements for producing food-grade growth factors, it is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health for food manufacturing licensing. “We stimulate …

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MATR Foods meat alternatives made via fungal fermentation

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MATR Foods Uses Fungal Fermentation & Upcycled Veg to Make “New Generation” of Alt Meats

MATR Foods is a Danish startup producing sustainable meat alternatives via fungal fermentation. Made with just five ingredients — oats, split peas, lupin, beetroot, and potatoes — the products are described as a “new generation” of plant-based food. The ingredients used are organic, upcycled, and sourced from Danish farms. To transform them into meat alternatives, MATR adds natural fungi spores, which ferment the ingredients to give an umami flavor and firm bite. The resulting products are low in calories and high in fibre, with no additives. Success in European markets MATR’s product range includes plant-based steak, mince, and a block that can be cut into any shape. The meat alternatives have already launched at Sticks N’Sushi in the UK, Denmark, and Germany as part of …

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Austrian startup Revo Foods introduces THE FILET, a mycoprotein-based salmon filet.

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Revo Foods’ Mycoprotein-Based Salmon Filet Becomes First 3D-Printed Alternative to Hit Supermarket Shelves

Austrian startup Revo Foods introduces THE FILET, a mycoprotein-based salmon filet that will be available from the 14th of September at REWE’s famous vegan superstore, the 200-metre square Billa Pflanzilla. According to Revo Foods, it is the first-ever 3D-printed product available in supermarkets worldwide. Revo Foods and Swedish startup Mycorena collaborated to develop the 3D-printable mycoprotein, utilizing Mycorena’s Promyc ingredient. The project received €1.5 million from Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and the cross-border EU funding program Eurostars. With its primary ingredient being mycoprotein, THE FILET is a clean-label product that is said to offer remarkable nutritional values, such as high protein content and Omega-3. The product has received a Nutriscore of A in recognition of its nutritional benefits. Founded in 2020, Revo Foods is pioneering large-volume 3D food …

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