Israel’s Ever After Foods partners with Bühler Group to scale up cultivated meat production

SWITZERLAND – Swiss manufacturing company Bühler Group is working with Israeli food tech firm Ever After Foods to develop a commercial system for cultivated meat production using significantly smaller equipment.

Ever After Foods, a joint venture between cellular agriculture firm Pluri and Israel’s largest food company, Tnuva Group, says its technology can produce the same amount of cultivated meat with bioreactors that are at least ten times smaller than the industry norm.

CEO Eyal Rosenthal says their system eliminates the need for massive 20,000-litre bioreactors by achieving the same output with under 2,000 litres, making production more efficient and practical.

The partnership with Bühler Group aims to streamline cultivated meat production at a larger scale, with the Swiss company playing a key role in bringing the system to market.

A Shift Away from Traditional Bioreactors

Ever After Foods, previously known as Plurinuva, has exclusive rights to commercialize Pluri’s cellular agriculture technology and intellectual property.

The company uses a proprietary edible packed-bed (EPB) technology, which replicates the natural environment of cells to enhance efficiency and lower costs.

Rosenthal explains that the bioreactors utilizing this platform produce six times more protein and 700 times more lipids per cell, improving both taste and nutritional value.

Unlike traditional systems, which often create a cell slurry, their process results in actual meat with the expected texture and flavor.

Scalability remains a major challenge for the cultivated meat industry, with consulting firm McKinsey estimating that companies will need up to 22 times more fermentation capacity than what currently exists in the global pharmaceutical sector.

This efficiency leads to a 90% reduction in production expenses, lowering capital investment requirements and bringing costs closer to traditional meat production.

Additionally, the process has a lower environmental impact, using 95% less land, 94% less water, and cutting air pollution by 93% compared to conventional livestock farming.

Expanding Cultivated Meat Development

Ever After Foods is working with cultivated meat companies and food industry leaders to accelerate the adoption of its EPB system.

Rosenthal says the collaboration with Bühler will provide producers worldwide with access to affordable and scalable cultivated meat production technology.

The company, which secured US$10 million in funding in June, is one of several startups contributing to Israel’s growing food tech sector.

Israel was the third country to approve the sale of cultivated meat, granting local startup Aleph Farms regulatory approval in December 2023.

Bühler’s Commitment to Alternative Proteins

Bühler CTO Ian Roberts says the collaboration aligns with the company’s mission to support sustainable protein production that meets the growing global demand for food.

The company recently reported a turnover of US$3.3 billion for 2024, with a net profit of US$209 million, reflecting a 5.5% increase from the previous year.

Bühler has been expanding its focus on alternative proteins, and in December, it launched The Cultured Hub, a facility for scaling cellular agriculture, in collaboration with Swiss retailer Migros and flavor company Givaudan.

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