Cellular agriculture – 2020 in review

This year marked groundbreaking progress in the cellular-agriculture sector. From investment to regulation to technological progress, here’s a summary of the key aspects of the sector, as they unfolded in 2020.

• Investment is booming. Thus far, more than $1 billion has been raised in the cellular-agriculture sector, with public funding for research on the increase.
• Many new startups were founded, including Mzansi Meat, the first African startup. Mzansi’s ultimate goal is to offer meat specifically tailored to traditional African dishes. And the sector is not limited to start-ups: In Tel Aviv, SuperMeat has opened the first ever restaurant to serve cultured-chicken products.
• The diversity of products keeps increasing and is no longer restricted to cultured chicken nuggets or ground meat. Several start-ups presented their prototypes at tasting events, including Higher Steaks’ hybrid pork-belly-and-bacon, Shiok Meat’s lobster, and  Avant Meats’ fish fillet.
• Cellular agriculture is on its way to hit the mainstream. KFC Russia is partnering with 3D Bioprinting Solutions in order to produce cultured chicken to sell in their outlets, while Clear Meat is one of several companies that claim to have reached price parity with conventional products.
• Finally, the Singapore Food Agency has approved the first cultured-meat product for commercial purpose. Produced by Eat Just, the cultured-chicken bites will be available from their partner restaurant 1880, where they will be on the regular menu in early 2021.

As part of its commitment to reducing animal production by 50% by 2040 (50by40), ProVeg initiated the CellAg Project in 2019. Learn more about this project and the potential for cellular agriculture to help the world transition to a more sustainable, healthy, just, and humane food system.

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