AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Cultured Decadence secures funding to accelerate development of cell-cultured lobster meat

Apr 13, 2021Apr 13, 2021 Editor

US – Alternative proteins startup Cultured Decadence has closed a US$1.6 million pre-seed financing round to accelerate the development of cell-cultured lobster meat. Investors in the oversubscribed round include Bluestein Ventures, Joyance Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Gener8tor, GlassWall Syndicate, Bascom Ventures, and China-based Dao Foods. The company also received a grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation administered by the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC), reportedly marking the first-ever state government funding for cellular agriculture. Cultured Decadence has developed a technology that utilises the cells of…

Slaughter free meat to become cheaper, more eco-friendly by 2030 – CE Delft

Mar 12, 2021Mar 12, 2021 Editor

GLOBAL – Slaughter free (also known as cultivated meat) is projected to become more affordable by 2030 as production efficiencies improve and greater collaboration is made in the supply chain, a new study by CE Delft has revealed. According to the study, production efficiencies in the sector could push the price of the protein to as as low as US$5.66 per kilogram (US$2.57 per pound) in 2030. This would be a great achievement given that when the first cultivated meat debuted in 2013 in form of Dr. Mark Post beef…

Future meat technologies succeeds in bringing cost of cell-based lab chicken down to US$7.50

Feb 2, 2021Feb 2, 2021 Editor

ISRAEL – The once extremely expensive lab grown chicken is finally becoming more affordable thanks to more players joining the game, scientific advancements, new plant-based growth media, and partnerships across different scientific disciplines. Most recently, Israel-based Future Meat Technologies produced a cell-based chicken breast for about US$7.50, the biggest cost reduction recorded to date. Compared to the US$325,000 spent in 2013 to produce the world’s first hamburger made from cell-based meat in 2013, the US$7.50 is a great milestone in cell-based meat industry. It is arguably the biggest step yet…

Adisseo and Calysta’s Joint Venture to build world’s first commercial-scale single-cell protein production facility in China

Jan 10, 2021Jan 10, 2021 Editor

CHINA – Calysseo, an alternative protein joint venture between worldwide animal nutrition leader Adisseo and protein innovator Calysta, is building a first facility in Chongqing, China. In a joint release, Adisseo and Calysta said that upon completion in 2022, the China facility is expected to become the world’s first commercial-scale production facility of single-cell protein. The facility is a paradigm shift in protein production as it uses no arable land and almost no water in its production, making it a completely new sustainable way of making alternative proteins. “Calysseo’s facility…

Air Protein raises US$32m in funding round led by ADM, to develop a meat alternative out of thin air

Jan 8, 2021Jan 8, 2021 Editor

US – California based Food technology start-up, Air Protein, has announced a US$32 million Series A funding round led by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), with participation from Barclays and GV (formerly Google Ventures). The company, founded by former strategy consultant Lisa Dyson, who also has a doctorate in physics, is built around 1960s-era NASA research about how astronauts could convert carbon dioxide into food. The space agency looked at hydrogenotrophs — common microbes, some of which live in the human gut — that can be used to turn carbon dioxide…

Mitsubishi Food Group partners Israeli startup Aleph Farms to introduce cultivated meat in Japan

Jan 7, 2021Jan 7, 2021 Editor

JAPAN – Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group is partnering with Israel-based start-up Aleph Farms to bring cultivated meat to Japan in an effort to help the country meet climate change and food security goals. The two companies have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see them work together with the aim of selling cultivated meat in the Asian country. As part of the deal, Aleph Farms will use its manufacturing platform BioFarm for the cultivation of whole-muscle steaks. Mitsubishi, on its part, will provide its expertise in…

Cultivated meat start-up, Avant Meats raises US$3.1m to commercialize operations

Dec 7, 2020Dec 7, 2020 Editor

HONG KONG – Avant Meats, a Hong-Kong based cultivated meat start-up, has raised US$3.1 million in a seed funding round to fuel the commercialisation of its cultivated fish products. The funding comes at a time when Singaporean authorities gave San Francisco based food tech start-up Eat Just a license to sell lab grown meat to its citizens. According to Avant, it is the first cultivated meat biotechnology in China and the only cultivated fish company in Asia. Using its patent-pending proprietary technology, Avant produces animal-free proteins for food and skincare…

Cultured meat firm Mosa Meat raises US$20m in series B funding to expand operational capacity

Dec 7, 2020Dec 7, 2020 Editor

NETHERLANDS – A few days after Eat Just received license from Singaporean authorities to sell lab-grown meat, Dutch food-tech firm Mosa Meat has raised an additional $20 million in a Series B funding round. The additional US$20 million brings the total amount raised in the round to US$75 million, making the start-ups Series B round to be the largest funding round for a cultured meat firm in Europe to-date. Mosa Meat has been in the cultured meat industry for some time now, introducing what it asserts was the world’s first…

Singapore pushes food innovation limits becoming the first country to approve lab grown meat

Dec 2, 2020Dec 2, 2020 Editor

SINGAPORE – Singapore, a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia and one of the most progressive countries when it comes to embracing food innovations, has allowed the sale of lab grown meat, becoming the first country in the world to do so. With the approval given, Eat Just Inc., a maker of meat and egg substitutes, now has the go ahead to sell its laboratory-created chicken to Singaporean consumers. The product, created from animal cells without the slaughter of any chickens, will debut in Singapore under the GOOD Meat…