Cultivated meat startup New Age Eats, formerly New Age Meats, says it is walking away from a nearly-completed food pilot manufacturing facility in Alameda, CA. According to founder and CEO Brian Spears, changed circumstances have forced the startup to let go of the plant, whose construction is 90% completed. New Age and its real estate partners are currently marketing the space.
“Plans change in startup land”
In a post shared on LinkedIn, Spears states the pilot facility is located in The Research Park at Marina Village, a growing innovation hub in the San Francisco Bay Area. The facility offers a total of 23,000 sq ft, with 13,000 sq ft of downstream manufacturing space and 10,000 sq ft of office space, including three food R&D labs.
According to Spears, the facility offers full research, commercial and production capabilities, and is an ideal spot for a growing food tech company. Spears has not detailed what events led to New Age letting go of the facility, or what the company’s next moves may be, only stating that “plans change in startup land” and the company was forced to walk away from a significant investment.
Recent rebrand
Founded in 2018, New Age produces hybrid products that combine cultivated meat with plant-based proteins, with a focus on pork offerings. In June 2022, the company announced it was re-branding from “New Age Meats” to “New Age Eats” and on-boarded food industry veteran Kati Karottki as its new Chief Marketing Officer. To date, the startup has raised over $30M in funding.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, owners of the Alameda, CA facility are optimistic the space will provide an ideal opportunity for another food innovation company.
“This is an incredible facility, class A, move-in ready,” Dan Poritzky, a commercial real estate operator and landlord of the site told FoodNavigator-USA. “The Research Park campus has a lot of food tech companies. Shiru is here, Orbillion is here, Eclipse is here, Terviva is here.” He added, “So what you have here, estimated is probably, over $700 per square foot of investment. We had two tours last week. We have three tours scheduled this week.”
Interested parties are asked to contact Cresa, the real estate firm representing New Age, via [email protected] or [email protected].
