Although the cellular agriculture industry is traversing a consolidation phase and is facing the challenge of slower investor interest, the sector is building itself from the ground up, achieving all sorts of significant milestones — the first steps of what is set to become the fourth agricultural revolution.
Here we look back on the biggest news stories in cultivated meat and seafood from H1 2024, and there have been several standout moments across different categories, as follows.
Regulatory approvals
- France’s Gourmey became the first-ever company to apply to sell cultivated meat in the EU, marking a significant regulatory milestone. It submitted an application to EFSA for cultivated foie gras.
- GOOD Meat announced the world’s first retail sales of cultivated meat in Singapore, making cultivated meat available for shoppers for the first time.
- France’s Vital Meat sought regulatory approval to commercialize its cultivated chicken in Singapore and the UK.
- Australia’s Vow achieved regulatory approval in Singapore to launch the world’s first cultivated quail product, setting a precedent in the cultivated meat industry.
- The Israeli government granted Aleph Farms the first-ever approval for cultivated beef. The company plans to introduce its Petit Steak to Israeli restaurants.
Investments
- Students from the University of Waterloo have garnered $700,000 in funding to use artificial intelligence to transform the cultivated seafood sector.
- Singapore’s Cellivate Technologies won $3.3 million on a business reality TV show to develop cell-based meat solutions.
- Israel’s Ever After Foods raised $10 million to develop a highly cost-effective bioreactor platform for cultivated meat producers.
- Germany’s Cultimate Foods secured €2.3 million to provide cultivated fats that deliver desired meaty flavors in alternative products.
- Mosa Meat raised €40 million from various investors, including the poultry producer PHW Group, to advance its cultivated meat, in one of the largest rounds this year in Europe for alternative proteins.
- Berkeley’s Orbillion Bio raised funds to scale beef cultivation efforts using an innovative algorithm.
- Innocent Meat raised €3 million to develop an automated “plug-and-produce” solution to simplify the production of cultivated meat.
- Canada’s Opalia secured an investment from dairy supplier Hoogwegt Group to develop its “cow-free” cell-based milk.
- Simple Planet from South Korea successfully raised $6 million in an oversubscribed funding round to advance its cultivated meat ingredients for the food industry.
- Brazil’s Cellva raised R$6.5 million to further develop its cultivated pork fat.
Announced tastings
- Mosa Meat hosted its first official tasting of cultivated beef in the EU, with experts praising the meat’s authentic taste.
- UPSIDE Foods organized a free tasting event for cultivated chicken just before Florida banned such products.
- Icelandic ministers tasted Ivy Farm’s cultivated beef during Iceland Innovation Week
- Dutch firm Meatable became the first company to organize a tasting event for cultivated meat within the European Union.
- At an official tasting event in Israel, 40 guests sampled Forsea’s cultivated eel and provided positive feedback.
- Magic Valley‘s cultivated pork was praised for its indistinguishable flavor from conventional pork during a tasting event in Australia.
- The Icelandic Prime Minister sampled Vow’s cultivated quail during Europe’s first official cultivated meat tasting event.
Notable partnerships
- Cultivated seafood pioneer UMAMI Bioworks partnered with IKP in India to advance the cultivated seafood market.
- The UK’s Ivy Farm teamed up with Synbio Powerlabs to scale up meat cultivation efforts at an “unprecedented” scale.
- Singaporean companies UMAMI Bioworks and Shiok Meats merged to expedite the commercialization of cultivated seafood.
- Israel’s Aleph Farms partnered with BioRaptor to enhance its cultivated beef production processes using advanced AI technology.
- UK firms BSF Enterprise and Ivy Farm joined forces to initiate the production of cultivated meat in China.
- Aleph Farms announced it is collaborating with biomanufacturing experts to establish a large-scale facility for producing cultivated meat in Thailand.
- Pulmuone announced a collaboration aimed at optimizing cultivated seafood production through AI robotics.
Unveiled prototypes
- Germany’s MyriaMeat unveiled a fully cultivated muscle pork fillet product.
- Wanda Fish from Israel introduced its first cultivated bluefin tuna product, Toro Sashimi.
- North Carolina’s Atlantic Fish Co. revealed what it claims to be the world’s prototype of cultivated black sea bass.
- EFISHient Protein reached a significant milestone in developing a tilapia cell line in Israel.
- Israel’s Forsea developed a cultivated eel fillet leveraging its unique cultivated fish platform.
Government efforts
- The Polish government supported LabFarm with a €2 million grant to develop cultivated chicken.
- The UK’s Food Standards Agency agreed to reforms to streamline the approval process for novel foods, including cultivated meat.
- Singapore proposed revising its novel food approval process by introducing a new “Defined Food” category.
- South Korea designated a regulation-free zone for cultivated meat to enhance production and safety measures.
- Israel’s ProFuse Technology was awarded a €2.4 million grant from the European Innovation Council to develop muscle growth solutions for cultivated meat.
- India’s Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute launched a pioneering project on cultivating fish.
- Japan introduced new regulatory and safety measures for cultivated meat, with Prime Minister Kishida playing a key role.
Expansion and scaling
- Nutreco opened a new facility, specifically producing food-grade cell feed for cultivated meat.
- Germany’s BLUU Seafood announced it is expanding its cultivated fish production in preparation for market entry and predicts price parity with conventional fish within three years.
- Czech cultivated meat company Mewery made significant progress in scaling up the cultivation of pork.
- Avant Meats from China announced plans to significantly expand its cultivated fish production by 2025 following a successful pilot production phase.
- Italy’s “Feather to Meat” project expanded to conduct larger-scale trials for cultivated chicken.
- Meatable announced it had significantly reduced the production time for cultivated pork, managing to go from cell to sausage in just four days.
- UK biotech firm Multus unveiled the world’s first commercial-scale facility dedicated to serum-free growth media for cell-based meat production.
Pet food
- UMAMI Bioworks and Friends & Family Pet Food Co. partnered to launch cultivated fish cat treats in 2025.
- Meatly received approval to sell its cultivated chicken pet food in the UK. The first products are expected to hit shelves this year.
- Bene Meat Technologies introduced its slaughter-free pet meat products at the Interzoo Fair.
Bans on cultivated meat
- Alabama became the second state in the USA to ban cultivated meat, significantly limiting sustainable food options for millions of its residents.
- Florida was the first state in the USA to ban cultivated meat. The governor expressed his clear opposition to lab-grown meat.
- Italy’s ban on cultivated meat could be unenforceable due to violations of the EU’s scrutiny procedure.
