Canadian investment platform CULT Food Science Corp. has completed a strategic investment in Novel Farms, a cell-cultured meat company based in California.
CULT invests exclusively in cell-cultured meat and dairy companies, making Novel Farms an ideal addition to its portfolio. The company is working on proprietary tissue development processes with the aim of producing whole cuts of gourmet cell-cultured meat — this will include products such as Iberian pork and dry-cured Iberian ham.
Novel Farms says it will use the new funding to expand its team, begin a pilot, and scale production. It aims for its products to be distributed via high-end restaurants and foodservice, and eventually at speciality retailers. The company has already seen some success — earlier this year, it was announced as a semifinalist of the XPRIZE Foundation Challenge.
“A sustainable, safe and secure solution will be required to meet the global growing consumer demand for meat and dairy products, and at CULT Food Science we unequivocally believe that the future of food will be science-based.”
Significantly, Novel Farms plans to launch its Iberian Ham at price parity with the conventional variety. Cell-cultured meat is often prohibitively expensive, though this is beginning to change — late last year, an Indian cultured chicken company claimed it had achieved price parity, and other companies are slashing costs.
“Using animals to convert plants to meat is incredibly inefficient,” said Dorian Banks, CEO of CULT Food Science. “A sustainable, safe and secure solution will be required to meet the global growing consumer demand for meat and dairy products, and at CULT Food Science we unequivocally believe that the future of food will be science-based. Our investment in Novel Farms, a company at the forefront of premium cell-based meats, advances our vision of a cleaner, more ethical, and more secure food supply chain.”
