A recent study in the journal Nature showed that the costly process by which cultivated meat is made is possible to be made cheaper.
Through continuous processing, animal-free serum, and a technique called tangential flow filtration (TFF), researchers managed to lower the cost of cultivated chicken to, they predicted, $6.20 (€5.60) per pound (0.45kg) – in other words, the cost of organic chicken.
Now, we ask key players within the sector how much the study actually affects their aspirations for cultivated meat.
Could these methods actually reduce costs?
There was significant optimism in responses to the study. Olivia De Talancé, COO of French cultivated meat company Vital Meat, told FoodNavigator “the price reductions highlighted in the study would be very significant for the cultivated meat sector.” Vital Meat recently submitted novel food applications in Singapore and the UK.
Achieving price parity with chicken, she says, would make the sector more accessible, and plant-based meat more likely to be adopted by the average consumer. Such cost cutting would also renew investor interest in cultivated chicken companies such as Vital Meat.
Downturn in Investment
Cultivated meat has seen a decline in investment among ‘generalist’ investors, according to Nadine Geiser, principal at World Fund. This is because novel food companies still have many technical issues to overcome before they can get their products to market.
Furthermore, according to Floor Buitelaar, co-founder and managing partner of strategy consultancy Bright Green Partners, the long wait for regulatory approval for cultivated meat is discouraging investors.
The techniques used in the study are, Talancé told us, particularly relevant for those cultivated meat companies who choose to develop cultivated meat as an ingredient, rather than a whole product. They “will be particularly significant for those who have decided to not go through a full differentiation approach with full pieces of meat created at he end of their process.” Vital Meat is one such company, its product intended as a flavour enhancer in plant-based meat.
“These techniques, which have been widely employed in the biotech industry, are feasible for various cultivated meat companies,” Dr. Neta Lavon, Co-Founder and CTO of Israeli company Aleph Farms, told FoodNavigator.
“However, while they offer potential, they still present challenges, including high costs and operational risks. There are other techniques which effectively address these limitations from the get-go.”
UK cultivated meat company Ivy Farm views the developments as positive. “The overarching principles discussed are applicable to other cultivated meat companies, in the same way that these principles have been adopted from other bio-tech industries,” says Ben Kinder, director of manufacturing and operations at Ivy Farm.
However, with the caveat that “some more detailed aspects will be bespoke to a particular product.”
Cultivated meat applications
Cultivated meat has only been approved in three countries – Israel, the US, and Singapore – but a wide range of applications have been sent pending approval.
Last year, Aleph Farms submitted cultivated meat for approval in Europe for the first time, to the UK and Switzerland. Earlier this year, French company Gourmey made the first application to the EU, for the cultivated foie gras.
Could these cost reductions be upscaled?
“It is certainly possible to increase these cost reductions, but this will require coordinated efforts across the industry,” Vital Meat’s Talancé says. “In addition, as bioreactors suppliers and growth media providers increase production, the cost of these inputs will fall, benefiting the sector as a whole.”
However, she stressed, before fully upscaling, the industry has to get past obstacles such as novel food approvals. The industry is ‘steadily advancing,’ she says.
“These cost reduction techniques can be scaled up to volumes of up to 5,000 litres,” Aleph Farms’ Lavon told us. “However, further development will be required to scale them for larger volumes.”
For Ivy Farm, collaboration is the key if upscaling is to be successful. “These cost reductions can be upscaled but it relies on continued prospective investment and development to build a robust industrial framework for the industry. Collaboration across the industry is vital to realise the universal goals of low-cost cell culture media and scalable, robust production systems.”
Alongside this, Kinder suggests, regulatory approval could drive the industry, as it would make the sector far more attractive for investment.