Novel approach lowers cost of cultured meat production

Future Meat Technologies, an Israel-based startup, has developed an innovative approach that reduces the cost of lab-grown chicken breast production to less than US$10.

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(Future Meat Technologies)
(Future Meat Technologies)

Future Meat Technologies, an Israel-based startup, has developed an innovative approach that reduces the cost of lab-grown chicken breast production to less than $10.

“I know that cultured meat is science fiction for many people, but this has grown throughout the past few years to become a realistic technology that enables us to have a product in the market in the next couple of years that is significantly more sustainable, while still delivering the meat experience,” Rom Kshuk, CEO of Future Meat Technologies, explained.

Barriers to commercialization

The high costs associated with cultured meat production remain a big barrier to commercialization for lab-grown meat.

Cultured meat is made using biopsied animal cells that are grown in bioreactors in a laboratory setting. The process involves the use of a growth medium to stimulate cell growth, which can cost up to $400 a liter. One kilogram of cultured meat can require up to 600 liters of growth medium, so costs can add up quickly.

This costly step limits the amount of cultured meat that is produced and makes the product too expensive for average consumers. The first burger made of cultured animal cells cost more than $280,000

Optimizing composition and volume

The innovative approach optimizes the growth medium composition and volume to lower costs associated with cultured meat production.

“Making cultured meat is a bit similar to what you’d expect in animal farming. At the end of the day, it’s all about the cost of the feed,” Kshuk said.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve optimized the formulation to meet the specific needs of our cell lines. Through that, we were able to lower the costs and increase the yield.”

Future commercialization

Future Meat Technologies – whose investors include Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods – plans to achieve commercialization for its cultured meat products within the next 18 months.

“This is just the first step,” said Kshusk. “We are aiming to optimize this further to get to a lower cost, which would enable us to have a close to cost parity product.”

In addition, the startup recently announced that it has raised an additional $26.75 million in funding, which will be used to scale up production and accelerate research and development.

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