July 31, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Bell Food Group has increased its investment in Dutch cellular meat startup Mosa Meat, the company name behind the development of the first cultivated hamburger in 2013, by contributing EUR 5 million (US$ 5.9 million) to Mosa Meat’s next funding round. 

This investment follows a EUR 2 million (US$2.3 million) investment made by Bell Food Group in Mosa Meat in 2018.

From its registered office in Maastricht in the Netherlands, Mosa Meat is a pioneer of cultured beef. The startup developed a technology for producing lab-grown beef from animal cells, leading to the company’s unveiling of the world’s first lab-produced hamburger in 2013.

This first pilot lab-created hamburger cost approximately $280,000 at the time due mostly to a lack of scale, and the high price of inputs needed for production, including costly fetal bovine serum. However, as technology advances, scaling becomes more easily attainable, and Mosa Meat has replaced fetal bovine serum with an unidentified non-animal replacement.

Just this month, the company announced the achievement of a significant milestone – the reduction of the cost of its growth medium – the most expensive aspect of the production process – by 80 times. 

And, as the company shifts beyond the challenges of the lab, and toward getting products onto retail shelves, it announced in January of this year a strategic partnership with Nutreco, which has made an undisclosed investment in the company.  

Today, Bell Food Group nearly triples its backing of the startup. Part of Coop, one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies, Bell Food Group is a leading European meat and convenience food processor with a range of products including poultry, meat, charcuterie, seafood, and convenience products.

The group, which employs 12,500 and posts annual revenue of more than EUR 3.5 billion (US$4.1 billion) controls a multifaceted network and a deep well of expertise in producing and market meat products. It also has a strong hand in the development of innovative nutrition concepts, and constantly invests in new production technologies and trends.

This being said, Bell Food Group intends to secure a leading role in the alternative meat market, and has identified cultured meat as a category with vast potential and expectations of a 10 percent market share by 2030. 

Bell Food Group noted, “According to a number of studies, global meat consumption will rise significantly by around 3 percent per year up to 2030. Current production methods will no longer be able to sustainably meet this increase in demand.”

“According to analysts, it is expected that cultured meat may achieve a market share of 10 percent by 2030. With the investment in Mosa Meat, the Bell Food Group wants to support the long-term development of new production methods that offer a possible alternative to consumers who are re-evaluating their consumption of meat for ethical reasons.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.