Lamb

Magic Valley

The Magic Valley team. © Magic Valley
Cultivated Meat

Magic Valley Selected for SVG Ventures | Thrive Accelerator Following Cultivated Lamb Breakthrough

Australian cultivated meat company Magic Valley, producer of cultivated lamb, is among the ten startups selected for the latest cohort of the SVG Ventures | Thrive APAC Accelerator program. Aimed at growth-stage agrifood tech companies, the program is based in Melbourne and received almost 100 applications for the cohort. Participation will enable Magic Valley to access funding, mentorship, networking opportunities, training, and more. Magic Valley said it was excited to be involved in the program, which it claimed would “leverage the global reach of SVG Ventures | THRIVE, building a strong connection between Australia and the US”. The news comes shortly after the company hired Dr. Vijay Kumar as its new Senior Bioprocess Engineer. Kumar has extensive industry experience, and was previously a bioprocess engineer …

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a close-up of mock's plant-based meat on top of a table

© [MOCK]
Products & Launches

[MOCK] Launches “Chef-Quality” Plant-Based Lamb and Chicken Range for Food Service

[MOCK], a plant-based food brand based in London, recently announced the launch of its plant-based lamb and chicken range created exclusively for professional chefs and food service operators. According to the company, its “chef-quality” plant-based alternatives are suitable for replacing conventional meat without compromising taste and texture, giving chefs flexibility when creating meat-free dishes.  [MOCK]’s plant-based meat range comes in 1kg format, including the following: Lamb pieces  Chicken pieces  Chicken fillet  Chicken fillet burger  Chicken popcorn  Chicken drumstick  Last November, the plant-based meat startup won Best Whole Cut Product for its MOCK lamb at the Food Bev Awards, held at Plant Based World Expo Europe. Better plant-based meat for chefs [MOCK] was founded by Harpreet Gill, joined in Q4 2022 by Pappudu Sriram — previously partner …

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Vegan Lamb Burgers

©Black Sheep Foods
Investments & Finance

Black Sheep Foods Raises $12.3M to Scale Up Plant-Based Lamb and Exotic Meats

Black Sheep Foods, which specializes in plant-based lamb and other game meats, announces it has raised $12.3M in Series A funding.  The company will use the capital to increase its product and R&D teams, sales and marketing, and move to a larger production facility capable of making 16 million pounds of plant-based lamb each year. This increased production is expected to begin in early 2023, says its CEO.  Based in San Francisco, Black Sheep uses patent-pending technology to identify the unique flavor molecules found in lamb and reconstruct its taste and richness using the same molecules from plants. The startup introduced America’s “first ever” heritage plant-based lamb at select restaurants in 2021, including six locations of Greek dining chain Souvla.  “Seriously impressed” “At Souvla, we …

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Magic Valley

The Magic Valley team. © Magic Valley
Cultivated Meat

Australia’s Magic Valley Produces Cultivated Lamb Without Animal Serum

Australian company Magic Valley has developed a cultivated lamb prototype made without fetal bovine serum. The prototype was made by taking skin cells from a living lamb and turning them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. These cells can be multiplied infinitely and made into both muscle and fat, eliminating the need for fetal bovine serum (FBS). FBS is used by most cultivated meat companies, but has attracted ethical concerns as it is an animal byproduct. It is also very expensive and subject to variations in quality. Magic Valley claims to be the first company worldwide to produce cultivated lamb using iPS cells rather than animal byproducts. The initial prototype is in the form of burgers and tacos, and is said to look and cook …

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Future Meat Kebabs

©Future Meat Technologies
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Future Meat Technologies Reveals ‘World’s First’ Production of Cultivated Lamb

Future Meat Technologies announces it has successfully produced the “world’s first” cultivated lamb meat, which looks, cooks and tastes like conventional ground lamb. The company says the milestone will allow it to begin producing cultured lamb at scale, and expand its platform into new species as it prepares for a US launch. According to Future Meat, development of cultivated lamb could transform the global landscape, with the European Union currently being the world’s largest lamb consumer; lamb is also the primary meat source in countries across the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia.  “Since lamb has a uniquely distinct flavor, it is very clear if a cultivated substitute is on or off the mark,” said Michael Lenahan, General Manager of Future Meat. “The …

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Nafsika's Garden Greek Meatballs

© Nafsika's Garden
Products & Launches

Dairy-Free Cheese Brand Nafsika’s Garden Launches Greek-Inspired Plant-Based Meats

Canada-based Nafsika’s Garden announces the launch of its first plant-based meat line, which features Greek-inspired burgers, souvlaki, gyros, meatballs and crispy chicken nuggets.  Mediterranean flavors Made with legumes, fresh Greek herbs and spices, the products are currently available for both retail and food service. According to the brand, its gyro meat is the first soy-free vegan gyro on the market, while the Greek meatballs aim to redefine traditional Mediterranean cuisine. The full lineup includes: Greek Burger – A high-protein, meatless burger made with pulses and Greek herbs Gyro Style – Classic, soy-free Greek gyro slices Souvlaki Style – A plant-based version of Greek kabobs, made with olive oil Greek Meatballs – Made with traditional Mediterranean flavors Crispy Chicken Nuggets – Ideal for a tasty snack or …

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black sheep

Dishes made with Black Sheep's lamb. © Nicola Parisi/Souvla
Gastronomy & Food Service

Black Sheep Foods Partners with The Chef’s Warehouse to Launch Plant-Based Lamb in NYC Restaurants

Black Sheep Foods announces it is partnering with specialty foods distributor The Chef’s Warehouse to launch plant-based lamb at restaurants throughout NYC. Beginning next week, chefs and restaurants can order the brand’s plant-based heritage lamb, which Black Sheep calls a first-to-market innovation.  Focus on game meats Black Sheep, which specializes in uncommon game and wild meats, first launched its flagship vegan lamb at San Francisco restaurant chain Souvla in 2021. The debut proved a success, and soon led other top Bay Area restaurants, including Rooh, Chezchez, Beit Rima, Mazra and Monica’s, to introduce the menu item.  According to Black Sheep, its lamb adds significant value to restaurants by increasing new and weekly repeat customer growth. “[W]e’ve seen first hand why the plant-based movement is so …

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Black Sheep Plant-Based Lamb Kofta

©Erin Ng
Investments & Finance

Black Sheep Foods Raises $5.25M to Make Plant-Based Lamb and Wild Game

Black Sheep Foods, makers of the first plant-based lamb in the US, announces a $5.25 million seed funding raise to bring uncommon plant-based “game” meats to the market.   Based in San Francisco, Black Sheep Foods also intends to “catapult flavor to the next level” by developing plant-based versions of heritage breed meats. The company accomplishes this by carefully analyzing and identifying key flavor compounds found in animal-based meat, and then structuring them around plant proteins.  Rapid restaurant expansion The company used this technology to develop its flagship product, plant-based lamb, which offers the complex gamey flavor and texture found in traditional lamb.  Last fall, the groundbreaking product launched exclusively at Souvla, a popular Bay Area chain of Greek restaurants, which served the item as Tunis-inspired …

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Products & Launches

Wicked Kitchen Launches First-to-Market Vegan Lamb

UK’s Wicked Kitchen, created by Chef Derek Sarno, has launched a No-Lamb Roast with Pomegranate Glaze, which is now available in Tesco stores across the UK. Sarno confirms this is the first-to-market plant-based roast lamb product; whilst there do exist some gyro style strips made by various producers, this  does appear to be the very first whole cut lamb roast made from plants.

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Lucy the lamb Magic Valley

Lucy the lamb © Magic Valley
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Australia’s Magic Valley On How to Turn Cells From “Cell Volunteer” Lucy the Lamb Into Lamb Steaks and Chops

Founded to meet the future protein demands of an expanding global population, Australia’s Magic Valley is developing cell-cultured lamb products including mince, strips, steaks and chops. With lambs currently slaughtered at an incredibly young age using traditional farming methods, its founder tells us this particular meat became the obvious choice for the company’s first product range. “There is absolutely no need for the mass slaughter of animals for food and hopefully intensive animal agriculture will soon be a thing of the past” Vegconomist spoke with Founder Paul Bevan, who says that he had become frustrated by the pace of change and effectiveness of his own activism so he turned his attention to technology, specifically the development of slaughter-free cultured meat, beginning with lamb. Utilising induced …

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