Business

A PhD in genetics might seem like an unusual requirement for the role of head chef. It makes more sense when the man running the kitchen is not just in charge of frying your chicken burger – he created the meat himself. “This burger takes something between two to three days to grow,” says Tomer Halevy as he chops red onions, iceberg lettuce and avocado. He proceeds to batter what appears to be a strip of raw chicken before dipping it in breadcrumbs.

Imagine sitting down to a meal with all the sights and textures of a meat-based one, except the beef strips in your stir fry, which happens to be super-charged with flavor, are not actually beef. Only you don’t have to imagine it. The meat of the future is here and it’s alive—but not in the way you might think. It’s a product of the push by a growing number of technology companies to tap into the vastness of microscopic diversity to recreate complex animal-based products, such as steak and bacon. The hope is to meet global protein needs in an environmentally friendly way.

Gathered Foods, makers of Good Catch Plant-Based Seafood, today announced international retail distribution across multiple European markets, including the Netherlands and Spain. This is Gathered Foods’ largest retail expansion since the brand’s inception, a major milestone for the innovative food company. As the European and UK markets continue to be advantageous for plant-based products, with plant-based alternatives expected to be worth €7.5 billion by 2025, the timing is ideal for Gathered Foods to grow their international footprint.

Solar Foods has been granted €4.3M of new financing from Business Finland to support its €8.6M development project for commercialising Solein, Solar Foods’ natural protein made from air. Business Finland’s financing takes the total Solar Foods’ financing to the total €24.8M.

CPI, an independent technology innovation centre and founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has today announced the commencement of a project in collaboration with 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd (3DBT) to develop an improved growth media for culturing meat cells in a lab environment. The project aims to increase cultured meat yields and remove the need for animal-derived products, making cellular agriculture as sustainable and economical as possible.