For cultivated meat (the correct term for what is often mislabelled as ‘lab-grown’ meat) to be a viable alternative to animal protein, the developing industry needs to figure out how to make a lot more of it, according to McKinsey.
Advocates of cultivate meat point to the United Nations prediction that the global population will climb to 9.7 billion by 2050. Projections suggest that global meat demand will far-outpace what the planet’s natural resources can support.
Cultivated meat provides, along with plant-based alternatives, an option to address food shortages, and in the form of an animal-friendly alternative which has a lower environmental impact compared with intensive farming practices, especially in relation to emissions, and agricultural land and water usage.
Cultivated meat has yet to be approved in every high-income economy, although trials are progressing in a number of markets (such as Singapore).
One pathway is being tried by cultivated meat innovator Ever After Foods (formerly Plurinuva). The firm has launched a new bioreactor platform, designed to produce cultivated meat. The bioreactor is backed by the Tnuva Group, who are Israel’s largest food producer.
Current cultivated meat companies use technologies to grow cells and to break-even industrial processes demand large bioreactors of more than 10,000-liters. This creates complexities when handling animal cells.
The Ever After Foods bioreactor looks set to overcome these problems and the first production is set to bring cultivated meat to the mass market at scale. The startup has reported a 700 percent increase in productivity when compared to older technology platforms.
Tests have shown how the35-liter bioreactor can produce more than 10 kilograms of cultivated meat mass. This includes the standard components found in conventional meat, such as fat and muscle cells, as well as the related extra cellular matrix (ECM) proteins.
According to Ever After Foods CEO Eyal Rosenthal, in a communication sent to Digital Journal: “Current cultivated meat companies all use very similar methods for growing cells and face insurmountable challenges when it comes to scaling production in a cost-effective manner.”
This creates challenging economics, says Rosenthal: “To achieve cost parity, their methods will demand huge bioreactors of more than 10,000-liters, which are infeasible for use with animal cells.”
In contrast, Rosenthal explains: “Ever After Foods’ disruptive technology enables significantly higher cultivated meat production capacity, with efficiencies that lower resources and costs. We can currently produce more than 10 kilograms of cultivated meat mass with just a 35-liter bioreactor and have a proven path to scale and reach price parity.”
