The Month In Cultivated Meat: February
Your monthly update on the cultivated meat industry. The future is harm-free meat - join me on the journey!
This month:
Meatly launched the world’s first cultivated pet food
South Dakota became the latest US state to propose a cultivated meat ban
Mosa Meat smashed its crowdfunding goal
Aussie start-up Magic Valley secured federal funding
The current bird flu crisis shows the risks of factory farming
📦Product Announcements
Last month's big news came via Meatly, who launched the first cultivated meat pet food for sale in the UK.
It’s being touted as the first ever consumer available cultivated pet food, anywhere and generated substantial media coverage.
The company is starting with its cultivated chicken snacks, Chick Bites, at UK pet food retailer Pets at Home, teaming up with plant-based pet food brand THE PACK.
The launch of our Chick Bites treats is a watershed moment for the pet food industry…Cultivated meat offers a tasty, low-carbon, and healthy protein source, which has the potential to eliminate farmed animals from the pet food industry - Damien Clarkson, CEO and co-founder of THE PACK.
🍽️ Small Bites
The Cultivated B introduced a new biosensor system to enhance real-time monitoring of cell culture. Advances in bioreactor technology—used to create cultivated meat—play a big role in bringing cultivated meat to market.
Our sensor technology for bioreactors accelerates the learning curve of bioprocessing, ensuring high-quality output and exceptional product quality. I am confident this will empower industries to streamline workflows and enable scalable processes through enhanced automation. - Founder and CEO of The Cultivated B
Steakholder Foods CEO Arik Kaufman outlined his company's path to commercial growth in 2025 with a big focus on entering the US market.
UnReal Milk, made by Brown Foods, plans for a 2026 trial for its cultivated whole milk.
Stämm and SuperMeat partnered to improve the scalability of its cultivated chicken, which is currently being produced for $11.79 per pound.
👖 Non-Meat
Meatable & Pelagen partnered to improve the scalability of cultivated leather. Pelagen will use Meatable’s technology, which enhances the production of skin tissue from animal cells. It marks Meatable’s first step in venturing beyond food.
💲 Raises
Mosa Meat smashed its crowdfunding goal, raising €1.5M in just 24 minutes. It exceeded its target by 150%, raising €3.8M.
Magic Valley received a AUD $100,000 grant from the Australian federal government.
We’re backing these businesses to make the jump from start-up to fully-fledged enterprise, creating new jobs and new industries in the process”- Minister for Industry and Science.
🏆Awards
Cultivated meat startup Orbillion Bio won the Salesforce DreamPitch event at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
German cultivated milk producer Senara was shortlisted for the 2025 edition of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize after being nominated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
🗺 Large Bites
🥚 Why the current bird-flu-driven egg shortage shows the promise of cultivated
Chances are you’ve noticed egg prices higher than usual and strict customer limits imposed at supermarkets around the world.
Egg prices have risen 41% in 2024, but it’s nothing new, with a similar shortage in 2023 and 2022.
It’s all due to an ongoing bird flu virus infecting chickens and impacting the total available supply. To slow the spread, laying hens are being killed when an outbreak is found.
In December 2024 alone, 13.2M commercial egg-laying hens were killed.
Many experts believe intensive factory farming practices are a major reason, with their crowded and unsanitary conditions creating the perfect breeding ground for viruses.
Although negative, it could prove an endorsement for the benefits of cultivated technology, which would provide three key benefits:
Easing supply gluts, resulting in more consistent supply and lower prices for consumers
Less harmful and more ethical for animals
Safer and reduced chance for diseases.
💪25% of Japanese consumers would try cultivated eel, irrespective of price
35% of respondents expressed familiarity with cultivated seafood and a willingness to try cultivated eel, with a quarter saying they would purchase it irrespective of price.
Japan is a great case study to watch as they’re typically an early adopter market and have a high rate of historic fish consumption, ranking 5th in the world on per fish consumption.
Many are switching away due to concerns of overfishing—if cultivated fish delivers on its promises, I expect to see strong adoption in the coming years.
🥄Tastings
ORF Genetics and Cellmeat hosted the first cultivated shellfish tasting outside of Asia. The tasting happened in Iceland and marks a milestone for Cellmeat, which has been developing its cultivated shellfish since 2019.
🧑⚖️Regulation
South Dakota became the latest US state to propose a cultivated meat ban. An initial bill gained the approval of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that would “ban the manufacture, sale, and distribution of cultivated meat in the state”.
Alabama and Florida have already banned cultivated meat, while Nebraska is considering a similar step.
South Carolina also pushed through laws to restrict “misleading or deceptive” labeling of these foods.
Mosa Meat filed for a novel food approval in Switzerland.
📻 Cultivated Listens
This month, Alex of the Cultured Meat and Future Food Podcast sat down with Aniekan Esenam of Hamilton.
Hamilton is a biotech manufacturing company. It might seem like it has little to do with cultivated meat, but they’re a vital cog in the cultivated meat supply chain.
Simply, they provide insights and precision tools to help cultivated meat producers grow their products effectively.
It’s worth a listen to understand more about the reactors that ultimately power the movement and the lifecycle of how cultivated meat goes from cell to end product.
Esenam also gives his future market projections as he optimistically expects to see 60% of meat coming from novel sources by 2040.
📑 Cultivated Reads
Given all the frenzy and milestones from Meaty's historic cultivated pet food launch, Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor and specialist, provided a great in-depth take on what it means and why it matters.
Providing valuable insights, he dives into the environmental benefits and the potential health considerations for pets.
Check out the full article here for a five-minute summary video.
To hear more about the milestone from the CEO of Meatly, see his written interview with Cultivated X.
🏢 Jobs Board
*New positions since last newsletter
Vow Meat: 4 positions (Australia)
*Upside Foods: 8 positions (USA)
Mosa Meat: 1 position (Netherlands)
Believer Meats: 7 positions (USA)
Aleph Farms: 3 roles (Israel)
*SuperMeat: 8 roles (Israel)
*Gourmey: 9 roles (France)
Avant: 1 role (Singapore/Hong Kong)
Fork & Good Inc: 1 role (USA)
Umami Bioworks: 3 roles (India/Singapore)
*Prolific Machines: 7 roles (USA)
📅Looking Ahead 📅
All eyes are now on Future Food-Tech San Francisco 2025.
When? March 13-14, 2025
What? It will feature 61 startups and scale-ups presenting innovations in food technology.
That’s a wrap for this month’s bite. As always, stay curious and stay cultivated!
Great overview. Thanks!