September 22, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Consumers are more closely engaged with their food supply chains and retail choices than ever. In recent years, concerns associated with animal protein production have increasingly come to the fore, including antibiotic resistance, sustainability, animal welfare, food-borne illnesses, and perhaps most pressingly, the environmental impact of such production systems.

Exacerbating these concerns is the knowledge that meat consumption is projected to grow by 40-70 percent by 2050 to keep pace with population growth and global consumption shifts. And although all food production carries with it some level of carbon footprint, beef production is a stand-out offender. 

Carbon Brief, a UK-based climate change website, recently illustrated in detail to what extent, showing data indicating that the meat and dairy industries account for 7.1 gigatons, or 14.5 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions per year. However, beef is by far the worst, responsible for 60 kilograms of emissions for every kilogram of meat produced.

Compounding this issue is the methane factor. Due to being ruminants, cows emit high levels of methane, a gas that is 34 times more harmful than CO2, as a result of their digestion process.

For years now, the message has been broadcast from scientific and government bodies that in order to mitigate the damage being done to our environment and the worsening of climate change, meat consumption needs to be greatly reduced.

But what if there’s a way to “have our beef and eat it too”?

Pioneering foodtech companies Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms have been on the forefront of this issue, growing cultivated meat from non-genetically engineered cow cells. In 2013 Mosa Meat was the first startup to unveil a cultivated hamburger, and Aleph Farms was the first company to reveal in 2018 it had grown a cultivated steak, and in 2021, a ribeye.

The ability of Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms to solve some of the most pressing challenges being faced by our food system has attracted the attention of Academy Award winning actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio, who has invested in, and become an advisor to both companies to advance the development of cultivated beef.

“Leonardo DiCaprio’s work to bring about positive change is closely aligned with our mission at Mosa Meat,” said Maarten Bosch, CEO, Mosa Meat. “We are thrilled to bring him on board as advisor and investor and work together to feed current and future generations sustainably.”

Culture Club (If you grew up in the 80s you’ll get it)

Once a topic for science fiction, the possibility of creating lab-generated meat on a commercial scale is becoming more and more plausible, while the environmental and social benefits of such a system are catching the attention of both consumers and high-profile investors.

Reflecting this, the Good Food Institute found that in just Q1 2020, cultured meat companies raised $189 million in funding – double the total funding to the category in all of 2019.

This first pilot lab-created hamburger created by Mosa Meat 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 became more easily attainable, and Mosa Meat was then able to replace fetal bovine serum with a non-animal replacement.

In October 2020 Mosa Meat announced an additional $55 million in funding led by Blue Horizon Ventures as part of its larger Series B as it began to shift momentum toward bringing its technology to retail shelves. 

This momentum toward commercialization was also evident just a few months ago in July of this year when Aleph Farms closed a Series B at $105 million – nearly nine times the size of its Series A raised in 2019 – which it stated was going to be used to to execute on its plans for large-scale global commercialization of its cultivated beef steaks, and to expand its product portfolio. 

Near-term actions for the company include scaling up its manufacturing, growing its international footprint, and expanding its product lines and its technology platform prior to the company’s initial market launch in 2022.

The commercial success of cultivated beef would have astounding benefits. An independent Life Cycle Analysis study found that cultivated beef production can reduce the impacts of climate change by 92 percent by using 95 percent less land and 78 percent less water, while reducing air pollution by 93 percent, when compared to traditional animal beef production systems.

Furthermore, the sterile environment and automated way in which cultivated beef is produced would eliminate the need for the use of antibiotics, and foodborne illnesses, pathogens, and contaminants, and the unused land can revert to its wild state or be used for producing more food for human consumption.

“One of the most impactful ways to combat the climate crisis is to transform our food system,” said Leonardo DiCaprio. “Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world’s demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production. I’m very pleased to join them as an advisor and investor, as they prepare to introduce cultivated beef to consumers.”

Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO, Aleph Farms added, “As a committed environmentalist, we welcome Leonardo DiCaprio to our advisory board and family of top tier investors. Our team is committed to improving the sustainability of our global food systems and we’re thrilled to have Leo share in our vision.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.